


Crossroads of Fate

by cynical_mystic



Series: an illusion of Fate [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, But don't worry there's a sequel, F/M, Katara (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Minor Aang/Katara, OOC Aang, Sad Ending, Stubborn Katara (Avatar), Zutara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:55:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 39,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26447431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cynical_mystic/pseuds/cynical_mystic
Summary: What if Zuko chose to go with the Gaang after Azula took over Ba Sing Se?
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Series: an illusion of Fate [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114247
Comments: 55
Kudos: 350





	1. A Surprising Connection

As Katara shouted at him that he was a horrible person, Zuko couldn’t help but believe her. After everything he’d put them through, he was definitely not as good as his uncle wanted him to be. In this moment, with her reminding him of all his past failures, he couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever live up to his uncle’s belief in him.

“You have no idea what this war put me through, me personally,” Katara was saying. “This war took my mother away from me.”

Zuko turned to see Katara had spent her anger and was now sitting on the ground, knees pulled to her chest, sobbing quietly into her arms. He was surprised to find that he felt sorry for her, something inside his chest urging him to approach her. Not wanting to revive her wrath, he fought the feeling and kept his distance as he responded.

“That’s something we have in common.”

Katara raised her head and met his eyes, tears streaming down her face.

“You’re lying,” she said, wiping away her tears with the heel of her hand. “You’re the prince of the Fire Nation. How could this war have taken your mother from you?”

Encouraged by her tone, the young prince tentatively scooted closer to her. When she didn’t object or move away, he came even closer until they were within a reasonable distance for conversation. At the sight of her tears, the weird feeling to get even closer appeared in his chest again, but he swallowed it.

“My father was the second son of my grandfather,” Zuko said quietly. “He shouldn’t have been Fire Lord. Wouldn’t have been, if my mother hadn’t helped him.”

When Katara didn’t comment, he continued.

“My father desperately wanted to be Fire Lord. When my uncle’s only son died in the war, my father approached Fire Lord Azulon and asked that my uncle be passed over for the throne because he had no heir, while my father had Azula and me. My grandfather was enraged and said my father had no empathy for my uncle, who had just lost his firstborn. He said my father should feel the same pain and ordered him to kill me.”

The shock on Katara’s face urged Zuko to keep speaking.

“I heard all this from Azula that night, as she had listened in on the conversation. My mother intervened on my behalf and poisoned my grandfather so that my father could claim that Azulon’s dying wish was for my father to succeed him. She saved my life. And I have no idea what happened to her.”

Finally, Katara had run out of words.

The two sat together in silence for a while, until Zuko remembered he wasn’t the only half-orphan in the cavern.

“What happened to your mother?” he asked.

“She was killed during a Fire Nation raid on the South Pole when I was a little girl,” Katara said, her voice growing thick. “I went home to find her and found her with one of the soldiers. She told me to find my dad, and when I found him and we got back…”

Katara took a deep breath.

“She was gone.”

This was a pain Zuko couldn’t imagine. At least he could hold out some hope that his mother was alive. Katara had no such hope, as she’d seen her mother’s body herself.

Without thinking, Zuko succumbed to the strange desire to get closer and reached out to put his hand on Katara’s arm. To his surprise, she put her hand over his.

“I’m sorry, Katara.”

With a tearful smile, she said, “Thanks, Zuko.”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Katara said after several more moments of silence and Zuko had dropped his hand.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Zuko couldn’t help but continue to believe he deserved her anger. Part of him thought she should still be yelling at him, despite their moment of connection over their past horrors. The other part of him was glad for it, as Katara was quite terrifying when she was angry.

As he was mulling over her mother’s story, inspiration struck him.

“I might be able to help you find the man who killed your mother.”

Katara’s head jerked towards him, her blue eyes icy.

“What do you mean?”

“If we can figure out which part of the navy attacked that day, then I can figure out how to find them. And we could go after the man who murdered your mother.”

Katara stared at him, speechless once again.

When she finally found her voice, she said, “Why on earth would you do that for me?”

“It could help you,” Zuko said. “I have a sliver of hope that my mother is alive. If I can give you something similar, the hope that we could find the man who killed your mother and bring him justice, then maybe we’ll be a bit more even.”

After several moments Zuko thought Katara was going to start screaming at him again, but instead, she said, “I want you to come with us.”

“What do you mean?”

“After we deal with your sister’s coup. I want you to join our group. Aang, Sokka, Toph, and I. Become one of us.”

“Why on earth would you want that?”

“Because you’re more than what you see yourself as.”

Absentmindedly, Zuko’s hand moved to touch his scar and he was transported through time to the day he’d been given it. The ghost of his father advanced on him, raising his hand to strike his son and mark him as the traitor Zuko couldn’t believe he was.

Before Zuko could respond, Katara said, “I might be able to help you with that.”

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked, his hand falling.

“I have healing abilities.”

“It’s a scar,” Zuko said, thinking of the healers his uncle had taken him to after the agni kai. “It can’t be healed.”

Katara reached into a pouch at her side and pulled out a vial, holding it up for him to see.

“This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I’ve been saving it for something important.”

Zuko found it difficult to believe that removing his scar could possibly be important.

Katara reached up and gently touched his cheek. Her skin was cool on his, and he found himself leaning into her hand.

“I don’t know if it would work, but…” 

Before he could say anything or even breathe, something crashed through the wall near them, causing her to drop her hand, and his uncle emerged from the tunnel with Aang.

“Aang!” Katara cried, rushing to her feet and to hug the young monk.

Zuko tried to forget how Katara’s touch had felt as Iroh hugged him, but he couldn’t. He looked at Aang to find the other boy glaring at him, and again couldn’t blame him. Of course the Avatar was startled to see Zuko with Katara. Katara was his friend and Zuko definitely wasn’t.

“Aang, I knew you would come,” Katara was saying.

“I’m glad we were able to find you guys,” Aang said. “Toph could feel this place, but I still can’t believe it’s here.”

“It is beautiful,” Iroh said.

Zuko was speechless, Katara’s words about wanting him to join their group running through his head. How could he do it? Should he say something now?

“We need to talk, Zuko,” Iroh said.

“But--” he said, glancing wildly at Katara.

“You can catch up with us when you’re done talking,” she said, reaching out and touching his sleeve.

As Katara and Aang left, Zuko turned to his uncle.

Before Iroh could say anything, the walls exploded again.


	2. A Historic Decision

“It’s not too late for you Zuko,” Azula was saying, her voice like silk. “You can still redeem yourself.”

“The kind of redemption she offers is not for you,” Iroh called from his crystal prison, his voice cutting through the silk like a hot knife.

“Why don’t you let him decide, Uncle? I need you, Zuko. I’ve plotted every move of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day you will have your honor back. You will have Father’s love. You will have everything you want.”

Azula’s voice creeped into him like it always had, promising him everything he’d ever wanted.

Then another voice, his own from all those weeks ago when he’d been alone, creeped into him.

_ Azula always lies. _

And then Katara’s, like music:  _ I want you to come with us. _

“Zuko, I’m begging you,” Iroh said. “Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want.”

“You are free to choose,” Azula said with a wave of her hand.

The Dai Li agents she’d brought with her left, earthbending themselves out as Azula followed Aang and Katara.

“Zuko,” Iroh began, but the young firebender had already taken off after Azula.

As he followed her, he thought about what he really wanted. He thought about what would happen if the Fire Nation conquered Ba Sing Se. He thought about Katara, and how she’d shown him extreme kindness despite everything he’d done to her. He thought about his uncle, whose voice still rang in his ears. Who’d left his prominent positions as a Fire Nation General when his son had died. Who’d always, even when Lu Ten was alive, treated Zuko like his own.

When he found Azula, she was facing off against Katara and Aang. He used a fireblast to keep her from attacking and jumped into the circle, hands raised against Azula and Aang, still not having made his decision.

His chest heaved, and Zuko thought.

He thought about Jin, who’d lit up when he’d lit the fountain lights.

He thought about Lee, whose admiring eyes turned cold as soon as fire lept from Zuko’s fists.

He thought about Song and the ribbon of a scar wound up her leg from one of his soldiers.

He thought about the Jasmine Dragon, and all of his uncle’s dreams for him.

He thought about Katara having to see the body of her mother so young.

He thought about his own mother, her voice saying, “Remember who you are.”

He thought about the look on Aang’s face when he’d discovered him with Katara.

He thought about his sister, his childhood mantra running through his mind.

He thought about his father.

He thought about his uncle.

He turned on Azula.

Katara and Aang joined him in his volley of attacks against the Fire Princess. Zuko liked to think he’d seen a flash of fear in her eyes when he’d attacked, but it was probably just fury at not being able to control him yet again.

Just as Zuko thought they had a chance, Dai Li agents swarmed them. Zuko and Katara faced off against the Dai Li while Aang was drawn into one-on-one combat with Azula. The Avatar disappeared for a moment, but Zuko didn’t have time to be concerned before a glow lit up the cavern and everyone lowered their fists.

Zuko turned to see Aang rising up from the crystal enclosure he’d made for himself. His eyes and tattoos were glowing, and all eyes in the cavern were on him.

A sense of dread washed over Zuko, and he turned to see Azula preparing to strike at Aang. Zuko struck at her himself, but he was too late. Lightning shot from Azula’s fingers and made contact with Aang just as Zuko’s fire struck the place where she had been standing.

“No!” Katara shrieked. 

Zuko took off towards the falling form of Aang at a run while Katara bended a wave to carry her, surging water over Azula and the Dai Li agents. She managed to catch Aang before he hit the ground and the two of them looked down at Aang’s limp form. Zuko looked for signs of breathing, and to his horror saw none.

From nowhere, Iroh appeared, jumping between the three of them and Azula and her agents, who were advancing.

“Take the Avatar and go! I’ll hold them off!”

“Uncle!” Zuko cried.

“Go, Zuko!” Iroh demanded.

“Come on,” Katara said, dragging Zuko by the arm towards the waterfall.

Zuko used fire to propel himself upwards, following Katara as she used water to lift herself and Aang. 

Zuko’s last glimpse of his uncle was Iroh glancing back at them, a small smile on his face.


	3. Proving Himself

“You can’t come with us!”

Sokka brandished his club at Zuko as Katara got Aang onto Appa.

“Sokka, leave him alone! He’s coming with us,” she said as she settled Aang on Appa’s head.

“Why? He’s been chasing us for months!”

“He just helped us fight Azula,” Katara said. “If we leave him behind he’ll be captured.”

“Just let him come, Sokka,” Toph said. “He can probably teach Aang how to firebend.”

Sokka glared at Zuko for several moments before lowering his club.

“Fine,” Sokka said. “Let’s go.”

Despite his threats, Sokka helped Zuko climb onto the flying bison.

Zuko settled into the saddle, nodding at the now irrelevant Earth King and his bear, and tried to figure out how he’d gotten here. Part of him had wanted to join Azula, but after everything he’d been through in the Earth Kingdom a bigger part of him wanted to see her defeated. In the end his decision hadn’t mattered, despite what she’d said about how she’d only be able to win if he joined her. Now, the Avatar was probably dead and there was no hope.

“Azula always lies,” Zuko muttered under his breath.

Katara was glad Sokka hadn’t wasted too much time trying to keep Zuko from coming with them. Once they were safely in the air she was able to work on Aang. Her initial examination made her blood turn cold, but then she remembered the spirit oasis water that she’d tucked back into her pouch after showing it to Zuko.

She pulled it out again, rolled Aang onto his stomach so she could access his wound, and opened the vial. She bended it into a healing form and pressed it against his seared flesh. The water glowed before sinking into his skin and by all appearances not accomplishing anything.

Just as she was about to break down, Aang grunted. She turned him onto his back and his eyes opened slightly. He must have been conscious, because he smiled at her.

Pulling him close, Katara thanked every spirit she could think of.

“What’s our next move?” Zuko asked once they were out of the city completely.

“We should go to Cameleon Bay,” Sokka said. “My father and the other Water Tribe warriors are there. They can help us.”

Zuko wasn’t terribly enthused about joining a group of warriors who had been fighting the Fire Nation for several years. They would probably know who he was and take him prisoner or something.

“Don’t worry, Zuko,” Katara said as she and Sokka maneuvered Aang’s limp form into the saddle. “Once he realizes you’re with us my father won’t hurt you.”

“Yeah,” Sokka said, climbing down to Appa’s head to take the reins. “Our father is really big about doing the right thing. He’ll definitely recognize you’re trying to do the right thing by coming with us.”

“Thanks, guys,” Zuko said, still a bit queasy as Katara sat next to him.

“I’m glad you came, Zuko,” Katara said softly. “After being imprisoned with you like we were, I would have hated to fight you.”

To his surprise, he felt her hand grasp the one he’d been resting against the seat of the saddle. He moved to hold hers in return and she laced her fingers through his, causing his heart to skip a beat. If she was trying to be comforting, he didn’t think it was having the effect she wanted.

“Yeah,” Zuko said shakily. “I think I’m glad I came. I just hope I can be useful to you guys.”

“Oh, you definitely can be,” Toph chimed in. “Like I said, you can teach Aang how to firebend.”

“I could do that.”

“You could also give us some insight into the Fire Nation capital,” Sokka called. “If we’re going to stick to the invasion plan, we’ll need all the help we can get.”

“How are we going to do the invasion plan without the Earth Kingdom forces?” Katara asked.

“I’m still thinking about that one,” Sokka admitted. “Don’t worry; I’ll think of something.”

Sokka and Katara’s father, Hakoda, turned out to be incredibly intimidating. Zuko couldn’t help but wonder if the man could see into his soul with how hard he was staring at Zuko. Katara stood just behind him, there for support but allowing Zuko to defend himself. He was grateful for her presence and couldn’t help but wish her hand were in his again.

“So, you’re the infamous Prince Zuko,” Hakoda began.

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ve heard stories about you. They say your father banished you for speaking out of turn at a military meeting. Is that true?”

Zuko was surprised at how far the news had traveled. How could this Water Tribe chief know his shame? Who in the palace told? He would have thought his father would have kept it quiet. He had at first; Zuko and Iroh’s crew had had no idea of what Zuko had been through until that storm.

“Yes sir,” Zuko said, a lump in his throat.

“What exactly happened there?”

The young prince’s heart started racing at the memory. He recounted how he’d convinced his uncle to let him into the meeting, as he wanted to learn how to run the Fire Nation when he eventually became Fire Lord. His uncle had made him promise not to say anything, but when the general had proposed his plan to put fresh recruits on the front line as bait, Zuko couldn’t help but speak out. As a result his father had forced him to fight an agni kai against him. When Zuko begged for mercy, his father burned his eye and banished him.

“Your father did that to you?” Katara breathed.

Hakoda, Bato, and the other warriors around them were standing in stunned silence. A way away, near Appa, Zuko could see Sokka and Toph with the Earth King. Sokka’s mouth was hanging open and Toph was clenching her fists. The Earth King looked horrified.

“Yes,” Zuko said, the lump in his throat dissipating a bit.

“Sounds to me like you’re a fine young man,” Hakoda finally said. “Everyone gets a little lost sometimes, and you’re still so young. I’m glad to see you’re trying to make up for what you put my children through.”

“Thank you, sir,” Zuko said, bowing in the traditional Fire Nation manner.

Hakoda held out his hand, and Zuko wasn’t sure what to do. His eyes found Sokka, who was holding his own wrists. It clicked in Zuko’s mind and the young prince reached out to clasp Hakoda’s wrist. The Water Tribe chief returned the gesture, and the lump in Zuko’s throat disappeared.

“Now, how are we going to get Aang out of the Earth Kingdom?” Katara said once Zuko and Hakoda had dropped their hands.

“This bay will soon be overrun by the Fire Navy,” Zuko said. “We can’t use your ships to escape or we’ll be slaughtered.”

“We could capture one of them,” Hakoda said. “Then we’d blend right in.”

“That sounds like the best plan,” Bato said. “Let’s get ready.”

Once the two men had turned away to give their warriors orders, Zuko turned to Katara.

“Thank you for standing with me,” Zuko said. “You didn’t have to.”

“I know,” Katara said, giving him a small smile. “You looked so terrified I couldn’t leave you alone.”

“I wasn’t terrified!”

Katara chuckled.

“Please, Zuko,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder as she walked past him. “You were positively green. I thought you were going to throw up all over Appa’s saddle!”

Zuko didn’t realize she was teasing him until she’d patted his shoulder and walked away, but once he did, a warm feeling spread through his chest. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been playfully teased like that.

As Zuko joined the others in preparing to take one of the Fire Navy ships, he couldn’t help but feed his hope that this would turn out well.


	4. A Moment

Capturing a Fire Navy ship was easier than Zuko had anticipated. They’d managed to pick one with a relatively new commander, and dispatching him and his crew was child’s play to experienced fighters like Hakoda and his men. Once they were stowed safely away in the cargo hold, they were able to bring everyone on board. Zuko helped Katara find a room where Aang could recover, and then they were on their way. Where to, he still wasn’t sure, but he found he was minding less and less.

The first week was a bit awkward, as Zuko still wasn’t sure where he stood with Sokka or Toph. Eventually he realized that Sokka’s joking was just something he did with everyone, so it began to grow on him, but Toph was harder to figure out. He still found it hard to believe that she could see on this metal ship, let alone bend the material to her will, but she seemed pleased by his awe whenever something needed fixed, so he supposed with time he’d break through to her and figure her out.

He found himself with Katara more often than not. They were constantly running out of things to keep them occupied, as they’d been at sea for days without stopping. The food stored on the ship was enough to keep them and the original crew going for at least a month and if Aang hadn’t gotten better by then they would have to land. Until then they didn’t dare.

Sokka and Hakoda occupied themselves with a new invasion plan, the planning for which Katara and Zuko occasionally sat in on, but Zuko’s knowledge of the capital could only help so much. Eventually he’d answered all the questions he could, so he and Katara were left to figure out something else to do.

“We could spar,” she suggested one day as they were standing together at the rail of the ship. 

“Hmm,” Zuko said, thinking through any potential ramifications. There were no other ships around to see firebending and waterbending coming from a Fire Navy ship, so he supposed it wouldn’t be a problem. “It has been a while since we’ve gotten a chance to.”

“Yeah,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about the last time I saw you. You know, before the catacombs.”

“In that abandoned Earth Kingdom town?”

“It was actually right before Azula’s coup, in Ba Sing Se. Momo and I were taking some documents to the Earth King, and I saw your uncle’s tea shop. We stopped and went in, and then I saw you and Iroh working and I freaked out.”

“What did you do?”

“I ran to who I thought were the Kyoshi Warriors, but they were actually your sister and her friends. They captured me then. It’s my fault she knew you and your uncle were in the city.”

Zuko could tell this fact bothered Katara, but he knew she didn’t really understand his sister.

“It’s not your fault,” he said, reaching out to put a hand on her arm. “She would have found us eventually after the coup. And then I wouldn’t be here. So it all worked out in the end.”

Katara smiled at him and his chest grew warm.

She put her hand over his and squeezed it before saying, “How about that spar?”

As they fought, Zuko thought about the other times they’d encountered each other. With a pang of humiliation, he thought about their first meeting. How terrified she’d been when he’d grabbed the old woman. How surprised she’d been when he’d revealed Aang as the Avatar. How distraught she’d been when he took the young nomad away.

Katara thought about their first meeting too, remembering a different Zuko as she dodged his strikes. She thought about how angry he’d seemed. How silly he’d looked when Aang bowled him over. How, even though their village had no men and was an easy target, Zuko had sworn he wouldn’t hurt them if Aang gave himself up.

Zuko dodged a water whip and thought about how he’d used her mother’s necklace to manipulate and track her. He felt his regret in the pit of his stomach. If he had known then what he knew now, would he have acted the same? He liked to think he would have been better, but he knew it probably wouldn’t have changed anything.

Katara thought about when he’d “saved” her from the pirates. How his touch had felt when he’d grabbed her: rough, but not painful. He’d been careful not to hurt her as he dragged her away. She remembered how he’d tried to barter her mother’s necklace for his honor, and was saddened by the fact that Zuko couldn’t see he was probably the most honorable person in the Fire Nation. Apart from his uncle.

Zuko thought of tracking them with June, how he’d refused to believe she would leave Aang’s side.

Katara thought of how Zuko and Aang had fought at the convent, perfect mirrors of each other.

Zuko thought of their last encounter, when Azula had hurt Iroh. When he’d ordered her away when she’d tried to help.

Katara thought of the pain in Zuko’s voice as he bended at them to get them away. She didn’t have to imagine what he was feeling.

Both of them stopped bending at about the same time, lost in the past. For a while they just stood and stared at each other.

“Katara, I’m so sorry,” he said, his voice thick with the pain in his chest. “For everything I’ve done to you and your brother and Aang. How could you possibly forgive me?”

She stepped closer to him until they were almost touching.

“I’ve always seen something more in you,” she said softly. “You told me once that you’re trying to regain your honor. I’m telling you it was never lost. Just different from what your father believes it should look like.”

Without thinking, Zuko pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him as tightly as he held her, until it almost hurt.

“I will do everything in my power to make up for what I’ve done,” he said into her hair.

“I know.”

After that, it was near impossible to separate them. Katara found herself wanting to be with Zuko more than anyone else, and eventually Sokka took notice.

He came to her room one morning as she was finishing getting ready and leaned against the frame while she braided her hair.

“So,” he said, trying to sound casual. “Zuko, huh?”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling to herself. “I guess. I don’t know how it happened, it just kind of...did, you know?”

“I know,” Sokka said. “I thought about warning you to be careful, but then I remembered that you could totally kill him if he ever did something wrong, so I’m just going to say I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, Sokka,” Katara said, warmed by both sentiments.

“What are you going to tell Aang?”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s totally in love with you, Katara,” Sokka said.

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“Alright,” he said, shrugging. “If you say so. Just don’t be surprised if he doesn’t take this whole you and Zuko in a relationship thing very well.”

“It’ll be fine,” Katara said. “If he does like me, then me not being available will just help him focus.”

“If you say so.”

As Sokka left, Katara finished off her braid and wondered if he could possibly be right about Aang’s feelings. Sure she’d given him some kisses on the cheek, but she did that to Sokka too. Aang was like a little brother, someone who needed looking after. 

Even if Aang did think he was in love with her, Katara decided, it didn’t matter. She didn’t feel the same way about him.


	5. The Awakening

“Come on, Zuko,” Sokka said. “It’s time to brief Aang on what’s been going on while he was healing.”

Zuko stood from where he’d been practicing firebending at the bow of the ship and joined the gathering Sokka had amassed around a crate he proceeded to sit upon. Zuko sat next to Katara, who smiled at him as Sokka spread out his map and began talking to Aang.

“After what happened at Ba Sing Se, we had to get you to safety. We flew back to Chameleon Bay where we found my father and the other Water Tribe men. The Earth King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise, so he set off alone. Well, not completely alone, of course, as Bosco went with him.

Zuko remembered the Earth King asking them what an Earth Kingdom commoner would wear, and Hakoda and Bato taking him to a nearby town to buy him clothes.

“Soon, the bay was overrun by Fire Nation ships,” Sokka continued. “Rather than fight them all, we captured a single ship and made it our disguise. Since then we’ve been traveling west. We crossed through the Serpent’s Pass a few days ago. We’ve seen a few Fire Nation ships, but none have bothered us.”

“So what now?” Aang asked.

“We’ve been working on a modified version of the invasion plan,” Hakoda explained.

“It’s Sokka’s invasion plan,” Katara cut in.

Zuko had noticed Katara’s ire towards her father ever since they’d gotten the ship, but had never gotten an explanation. Every time he asked her if she was mad at Hakoda, she insisted she wasn’t.

“Yes, Sokka’s plan,” Hakoda said. “We won’t be able to mount a massive invasion without the Earth King’s armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable.”

Zuko thought about losing his firebending and shuddered. He realized he’d soon know how Katara had felt at the North Pole, when Admiral Zhao had captured the moon spirit.

Katara felt his shudder and put her hand on his knee.

“So we’re planning a smaller invasion,” Sokka was saying. “Just a ragtag team of our friends and allies from across the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and The Duke.”

“Good to see you again, Aang!” Pipsqueak called from where he and The Duke were eating noodles.

“How is Zuko going to help us if he won’t be able to firebend during the eclipse?” Aang asked, his eyes on Katara’s hand.

“I know the palace,” Zuko said. “I can get you to my father wherever he is, especially if they retreat into bunkers for the invasion. I can also fight with my swords. As long as we can get a hold of a set.”

_ As you well know _ , Zuko finished mentally, remembering how he’d saved Aang from Admiral Jhao disguised as the Blue Spirit.

“And the best part is, the eclipse isn’t even our biggest advantage!” Sokka crooned. “We have a secret.

“You!”

“Me?!” Aang demanded.

“Yep, the whole world thinks you’re dead! Isn’t that great?”

Zuko couldn’t help but agree with Aang as the young monk replied, “The world thinks I’m dead? How is that good news?! That’s terrible!”

“No, it’s great!” Sokka insisted. “It means the Fire Nation won’t be hunting us anymore! And even better, they won’t be expecting you on the Day of Black Sun!”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Aang said, holding his head in his hands. “You have no idea. This is so messed up!”

Another Fire Nation ship approached them. When Aang noticed it, he stood.

“I’ll handle this,” he said. “The Avatar is back.”

Aang rapped his glider on the deck and opened it, causing him to grunt in pain.

“Aang, wait!” Katara cried, standing too. “Remember, they don’t know we’re not Fire Nation!”

After a moment, Aang reluctantly put his glider away.

“Everyone just stay calm,” Hakoda said as he and Bato put their helmets on. “Bato and I will take care of this.”

Pipsqueak and The Duke covered Appa and Momo while Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko hid in one of the hatches.

“I hate not being able to do anything,” Aang muttered, clutching his staff with both hands.

“Hopefully you won’t need to,” Toph murmured.

As they waited, Zuko’s hand sought Katara’s as he prayed the information he’d given them was correct. The admiral of the Eastern Fleet liked to take leave this time of year, so a Vice Admiral would be in charge of deploying ships. Because Fire Navy admirals usually have two or three vice admirals under them, sometimes wires got crossed as to who should be where and when. He’d also taught them how to bow properly.

“Commander, why are you off course? All Western Fleet ships are supposed to be moving towards Ba Sing Se to support the occupation!”

Katara’s hand squeezed his as Hakoda’s voice wafted towards them: “Actually, we’re from the Eastern Fleet. We have orders to deliver some cargo.”

“Ahh. Eastern Fleet. Well, nice of Admiral Chan to let us know he was sending one of his ships our way.”

“Admiral Chan is on his annual leave, sir,” Bato said. “We received our orders from one of the Vice Admirals. He must have forgotten to inform you.”

“Hmm. How hard is it to write a quick note and send a hawk our way?”

“Next time we’ll send two hawks to make sure you get the message.”

The dull thuds of footsteps could be heard getting quieter.

“The other officer is complaining about the chain of command,” Toph whispered.

The hidden friends heard the other ship withdraw their gangplank and sail away.

When they emerged, Hakoda clapped Zuko on the shoulder. “That would have gone very differently without your intel, Prince Zuko,” the Water Tribe chief said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Zuko said, his chest growing warm. “I’m glad I could help.”

The young firebender turned and saw Katara, who was beaming at him, and flushed with pleasure as she threw her arms around him.

That evening, Katara caught up to the others as they reached the dock they’d anchored at for the night. Her attempt to convince Aang to come get dinner with them hadn’t been fruitful, and she was a little frustrated with him.

Zuko smiled at her in greeting and took her hand as they walked into the port.

“Glad you decided to come, Katara!” Sokka said. “We thought you’d stayed behind with Aang. Any idea what’s up with him?”

“He’s still upset about what happened at Ba Sing Se,” Katara explained as she fell into step with Zuko. “And the whole having to pretend to be dead thing.”

“He probably feels like he lost his honor,” Zuko muttered.

Katara thought she was the only one who heard this, but Toph did too.

“Maybe you should go back and talk to him,” she suggested. “You of all people know what he’s going through right now.”

“It’s different,” Zuko said.

After a few moments of silence where all three of them waited for an elaboration that never came, Sokka changed the subject.

“What kind of food are we feeling?”

Later, Katara, after discovering Aang and his glider missing when she’d taken him some food, ran through the ship, tears almost blinding her, looking for the one person who could help.

When she approached her father and Bato on the deck of the ship, Bato said, “I’ll leave you two alone,” and left her with her father.

“What’s wrong, Katara?” Hakoda asked.

“He left.”

“What?”

“Aang,” Katara sobbed. “He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone, that it’s all his responsibility.”

“Maybe that’s his way of being brave.”

“It’s not brave, it’s selfish and stupid!” Katara shouted. “We could be helping him and I know the world needs him but doesn’t he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind?”

“You’re talking about me too, aren’t you?”

Realization came crashing down on Katara as she furiously wiped tears from her eyes. Everything she’d said about Aang she’d actually wanted to say to her father. Zuko had been right; she was furious with him.

“How could you leave us, Dad?” she demanded. “I mean, I know we had Gran-Gran, and she loved us, but we were just so lost without you.”

“I’m so sorry, Katara.”

Katara threw herself into her father’s arms and buried her face in his chest.

“I understand why you left. I really do, and I know that you had to go, so why do I still feel this way? I’m so sad and angry and hurt!”

“I love you more than anything,” Hakoda’s voice was coming from the deck of the ship as Zuko approached the door.

He paused, listening.

“You and your brother are my entire world. I thought about you every day when I was gone and every night when I went to sleep, I would lie awake missing you so much it would ache.”

Zuko’s blood went cold as he realized what he was eavesdropping on. Katara’s response was lost to him as he thought about his mother, wondering if she were alive and whether, if she were, she thought about him like Hakoda did his children. He knew his father didn’t spare him a second thought.

Toph and Sokka’s approaching footsteps broke him out of his reverie.

“What’s happening?” Sokka asked.

“I’m not sure,” Zuko mumbled.

He followed Sokka and Toph onto the deck of the ship, where Sokka repeated his question.

“Aang’s gone,” Katara explained. “We have to find him before he gets more hurt than he already is.”

“Where would he have gone?” Toph asked.

“If this is about restoring his honor,” Zuko said, “then he probably went to the Fire Nation.”

“That’s actually kind of perfect,” Sokka said. “We can meet up with the invasion on the day of the eclipse.”

“Sokka, how about you and I decide where we should all meet up while the others get Appa ready,” Hakoda suggested.

“We can help!” The Duke cried, rushing over with Pipsqueak.

Zuko turned to follow, but Hakoda put his hand on his shoulder and pulled him aside.

“You and Katara look after each other,” the Water Tribe Chief said. “Make sure my children come back safe.”

The young firebender looked to where Katara and Sokka were putting supplies into Appa’s saddle. Katara glanced over and smiled at him before continuing her task.

“Of course, sir,” Zuko said. “I will.”

Zuko was the one who spotted Aang on the shore of the crescent island they’d all faced off on so long ago. Sokka took Appa down to the shore, and Momo flew off towards Aang as Appa’s feet met the ground.

“You’re okay!” Katara cried, rushing towards Aang and hugging him.

Sokka, Toph, Appa, and Momo joined the hug, while Zuko held himself back.

Katara noticed and held out her hand to him.

“Come on, Zuko. Being part of the group also means being part of group hugs.”

With a sigh, he let her pull him into the embrace.


	6. The Fire Nation's Honor

“Shh!” Sokka scolded as Aang brought them down to the shore of a good-sized island. “The cloud cover is great and all until you speak! Clouds don’t talk!”

“Calm down, Sokka,” Katara said as Appa landed and she let the cloud she’d been bending around them dissipate. “The only things around to hear us are the birds.”

“We’re in enemy territory now,” Sokka said, leaping off Appa and approaching the birds. “These are enemy birds.”

One of the birds hopped onto Sokka’s head, causing Katara to chuckle as Zuko helped her down from the saddle.

“They can’t talk, Sokka,” Zuko said. “They’re just birds.”

“There’s a cave over there,” Toph said, pointing towards a gaping hole in the side of a nearby hill.

The group approached the cave and began to poke around. Toph made herself comfortable against some of the rocks near the cave wall.

“Well, here it is,” Sokka said. “This is how we’ll be living until the invasion. Hiding out in cave… after cave… after… cave…”

“We don’t have to become cave people, Sokka,” Katara said. “What we need is some new clothes.”

“Blending in is better than hiding out,” Aang pointed out. “If we were dressed like locals, we’d be just as safe as if we were hiding in a cave.”

Something dawned on Zuko that turned his stomach cold.

“Except for me,” he said. “I wouldn’t be just as safe.”

Katara, Sokka, and Aang looked at him, and it took none of them a long time to realize what he was referring to.

“Surely not every citizen knows what you look like,” Katara said, moving closer to him until he could feel her warmth.

“No,” Zuko admitted. “But after Ba Sing Se, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were wanted posters all over the Fire Nation with my face plastered on them.”

Katara looked at Sokka, who shrugged.

“We could all find clothes and then the rest of us could scout out the town to see if there are any posters,” Toph suggested. “Or, more accurately, the three of you could see.”

Zuko chuckled. He still couldn’t quite get used to how casually Toph referenced her blindness.”

“That’s probably the best idea we’re going to come up with,” Katara said. “Let’s see if there’s somewhere nearby where we can find some clothes.”

They settled on a house outside of town that had several clotheslines full of clothes.

“I don’t know about this,” Aang said. “These clothes belong to somebody.”

Zuko didn’t respond to this, as he was busy scanning the rows of garments to see if there was anything they should avoid. His eyes landed on a silk suit, and he nudged Aang.

“That suit is a school uniform, Aang. I’d stay away from it or you might be forced to go to the local school.”

“I call the silk robe!” Katara said, leaping over the rock they were hiding behind and running towards the lines.

“Thanks for the hint, Zuko,” Aang said, following Katara.

Katara helped Toph find some clothes while Zuko and Sokka found theirs.

Zuko managed to find an outfit not unlike one he’d had before he was banished. The familiar clothing was a comfort to him as he slid them on in place of his Earth Kingdom garb. Once he’d finished dressing, he turned to see what the others had come up with.

“How do I look?” Katara asked.

Zuko turned to look at her and his heart leapt to his throat. She was breathtakingly beautiful in the crop top and slack skirt that was common among Fire Nation women. The colors suited her very well, and the young prince found it difficult to take his eyes off her.

He stepped closer to her and was pleased to see her blush.

“You look amazing,” he murmured. “But, your mother’s necklace…”

“Oh,” Katara said, reaching up and touching it. “You’re right. It’s pretty obviously Water Tribe, isn’t it?”

As he watched her remove it and tuck it away, Zuko was reminded of when he’d found her necklace among the wreckage of the Fire Nation prison in the middle of the ocean. Especially after her revelations to him about her mother it saddened him that she had to remove it, but it was necessary.

The others left him as they said they would, promising to bring back food and a report of whether the local town would have any idea who he was. Zuko decided this was as good a time as any to practice his firebending, and as he fell into the familiar routine inside the cave, his thoughts wandered to everything that had happened since Ba Sing Se.

He’d joined the Avatar and his friends because he wanted to save the people he’d come to care about in his travels. Once again he thought about Song, Lee, and Jin. He hoped they were alright, especially Jin, as she was in Ba Sing Se. He couldn’t imagine how she had reacted when the Fire Nation stormed the city. An image of the fountain they’d gone to filled his mind, and he hoped for her sake it hadn’t been destroyed in the occupation. Now more than ever she needed a place to escape to.

Another reason he’d attacked Azula was in the name of everything she’d done to him as a child. He thought about how she’d tricked him and Mai into falling into the fountain together. How she’d come into his room and told him their father was going to kill him. How she’d always been better than him at firebending, and always made sure he knew it. He remembered how she’d tricked him into thinking their father wanted him home, and how he’d fallen for it. Azula had an irritating ability to get under people’s skin and make them believe anything.

As he practiced, he also thought about how he and Aang were similar. Right now Aang was looking to redeem himself and restore his honor as the Avatar. At the same time, ZUko was looking to restore his own honor as the Fire Nation prince. He wasn’t sure quite what that meant anymore. Every time he’d tried to do the right thing as a child, up until the point he’d spoken out in that war meeting, the only person who’d stood by him was his mother. His father had ridiculed him and told him he was lucky to have been born. His sister scoffed and called him a loser. His uncle had been so distraught after Lu Ten’s death that he hadn’t really been around for a couple years once he returned home from the war front.

The image of his father approaching him that day in the Agni Kai arena, raising his hand to strike his own son, filled Zuko’s mind. The echoes of the pain he’d felt came back to him, and he fell out of his form and to his knees, holding his scar and remembering not just the physical pain, but the emotional pain as well.

Ozai had led him to believe that Zuko’s honor was something out of his control. That somehow Ozai had taken it from him that day, for speaking out about a horrific plan. As Zuko remembered the burning sensation on his face, he realized his honor had never been taken from him. Honor was not something someone else could give or take; honor was who you were as a person.

A cool sensation came over his scar, and he remembered Katara. He remembered her kindness towards him, and how her skin felt against his. He thought about her willingness to heal him of his scar despite everything he’d done to them. How they’d bonded over losing their mothers to the Fire Nation. How she’d been the first person in a long time to understand him. How, despite everything, she might even love him.

Zuko’s hands fell from his face and he sat down on the cave floor. Momo approached him and he reached out to scratch the lemur between his ears.

“I’m so glad to be here, Momo,” he said quietly. “I’m glad to get the opportunity to make a difference in the world. And to love Katara.”

When the others finally returned, they brought food and bad news.

“There are posters of you all over the place,” Aang said, throwing himself on the ground next to Zuko as Katara handed him the box they’d brought him and sat down on his other side. “There’s no way you can go there and not be immediately recognized.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Zuko said as he opened the box. “Komodo chicken? This is one of my favorites!”

“I’m glad,” Katara said. “We weren’t sure what to bring you. There were so many options!”

Zuko took the first bite of food from his homeland in years, and relished every moment of it. He hadn’t realized how comforting it would be to be around the things he’d grown up with.

“Delicious options,” Sokka said, throwing himself on the ground dramatically. “I won’t need to eat again for a week!”

“I’ll remind you you said that in the morning when you’re whining about breakfast,” Toph said. “One of us should go grab stuff for a fire.”

“Oh, I should have unpacked Appa’s saddle,” Zuko said around a mouthful of food. “I’m sorry. I got to training and it completely slipped my mind.”

“That’s okay,” Aang said, airbending himself to his feet. “You’ll get into the swing of things soon enough. Toph, how about you help me unload Appa while Sokka goes and gets some kindling? Katara can help unpack when we’re done unloading.”

“Sounds good to me,” Toph said, heading out of the cave with Aang.

“I’ll show you kindling,” Sokka said sourly. “I’d like to just curl up and take a nap.”

“You can once we’ve got a fire going,” Katara said diplomatically.

Zuko polished off the komodo chicken and set the box aside as Sokka left the cave.

“All you did was train while we were gone?” Katara asked, leaning back on her hands.

“Well, it was nice to have a few hours to myself for once,” Zuko admitted, moving so that he was laying down with his head in her lap. “It was nice to have time to think about everything that’s happened.

“Since Ba Sing Se?”

“Since I got banished, really.”

Katara exhaled loudly.

“I still can’t believe your father did that to you,” she muttered. “If I was the Afatar I’d strangle him bare-handed.”

A warm feeling spread through Zuko’s chest at her vehemence.

“My father is very traditional,” Zuko said. “Or at least, what he thinks to be traditional.”

“What do you mean?”

“Before my great-grandfather Sozin started the war, the Fire Nation was different,” Zuko explained. “My uncle used to tell me stories. I know he wasn’t there or anything, but apparently he read about the time before Sozin in a history text that isn’t public.”

“Why would there be secret histories?”

Zuko gave her a chance to think about it. After a moment, she gasped.

“The Fire Lord is lying to his people?!”

“Of course,” Zuko said bitterly. “How do you think the war has been going on so long without the oppressed Fire Nation citizens rebelling? This war is how the Fire Nation is sharing its greatness with the world.”

Lee screaming at him flashed through his mind again and he flinched.

“That’s completely disgusting,” Katara said, sitting up and running her fingers through his hair. “How horrifying.”

“Yeah,” Zuko said, enjoying her touch. “I have no idea what will happen when Aang defeats the Fire Lord. How can you heal a people who have been so broken and traumatized by the people in charge for the last hundred years?”

Katara didn’t answer. Neither of them could.

They sat in a companionable silence, Katara playing with his hair and Zuko almost falling asleep, until Aang and Toph brought in their things and Katara went to help unpack while Zuko helped Sokka start a fire.


	7. Solving Problems

As they were heading east to the Fire Nation capital, Zuko was subjected to all of them trying to come up with ways to disguise his scar. He had to shoot down masks as most of them would be ceremonial. Katara suggested makeup, but he denied that too, as it would be too expensive. Finally, Aang came up with the idea to use Zuko’s longer hair to hide most of his scar.

Katara jumped on this and immediately began to rearrange his admittedly too-long hair so that it all fell to the side his scar was on. After Katara showed him the result in a mirror, Zuko wasn’t convinced.

“Surely this won’t work,” he said, examining himself from different angles in the glass. “The picture of me on the poster has to be too good for this to be effective.”

“Actually,” Sokka said, pulling a scroll from his pack and holding it up to compare, “this image seems to be pretty old. Your hair is still in its ponytail!”

“What?” Zuko asked, reaching for the scroll.

Sokka was right. Azula had, for whatever reason, continued to use the original poster she’d distributed after the Siege of the North. The one where he still looked like a Fire Prince and not like himself.

“Looking at this, I don’t see why the hair thing wouldn’t work,” Zuko said, rolling up the scroll and handing it back. “I can’t believe she didn’t have the posters updated.”

“Maybe she did and they just haven’t rolled out to all the outer provinces yet,” Toph suggested, munching on some fire flakes they’d acquired before they’d left.

“I doubt it. The distribution system for things like these is pretty efficient. If she’d wanted to, she could have had an updated picture of me in every province within two weeks. It’s been over a month.”

“Hmm,” Sokka said, tucking the scroll away. “That’s an interesting insight into the Fire Nation’s priorities.”

“Yes,” Zuko said, turning to look out over the landscape. “Catching traitors is extremely important to my father.”

When he turned back to the others, Aang had surrendered his camouflage duties to Katara and retaken the reins. Zuko watched Katara’s fluid movements, thinking about how Iroh had taught him how to redirect lightning, and with a jolt turned to Aang.

“We should really get to firebending training as soon as we can,” Zuko said.

“You’re right,” Aang sighed. “I’m really not looking forward to it.”

Zuko decided not to address this, figuring he would get the whole story eventually.

“I’d like to train with you too, Zuko,” Toph chimed in. “It’d be nice to get some insight into the kind of bending we’ll see during the invasion.”

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be on that front,” Zuko admitted. “My uncle taught me so many techniques he developed himself that it wouldn’t surprise me if the bending we’ll see at the invasion will be completely foreign to mine. But we can try it.”

“Better to have more information than none,” Sokka said sagely.

“Why is Iroh’s technique so different from traditional firebending?” Aang asked.

Leaning over the edge of the saddle to more easily include Aang, Zuko said, “My uncle spent a significant amount of time in the North, studying Water Tribe benders. Many of the techniques and forms he taught me were adapted from them.”

“Really?” Aang asked, shocked. “I never thought of blending bending styles.”

“That probably wouldn’t work for earthbending,” Toph observed. “But I can see how it would work going from waterbending to firebending.”

“I don’t think the skills would translate to waterbending from firebending very well, though,” Katara said, sweat rolling down her forehead. “Firebenders create fire more often than not. Waterbenders have to take it from the world around them.”

“Some of our techniques for dealing with fire that’s already in the world might work,” Zuko said thoughtfully.

“We’ll have to experiment.”

“Yeah!” Aang chimed in enthusiastically. “It would be really cool to discover techniques that could go across bending disciplines.”

Eventually Appa grew so tired of the continuous flying that they decided to land in a nearby river and try to fish for food. Katara took Appa’s reins to guide him through the water while Aang disembarked to go for a swim with Momo.

Zuko climbed out of the saddle and slid down to sit next to Katara.

“What, did you miss me?” she teased, nudging him with her shoulder.

“Maybe,” he said, smiling. “I was also wondering whether you’d teach me how to fly Appa.”

“I can’t believe we didn’t think of this before,” Katara said as she handed him the reins. “It’s the perfect time to practice, as he doesn’t really need direction right now.”

“If you say so,” Zuko said, running the rope through his fingers.

“Calm down,” she said warmly, reaching out to still his hands with hers.

He met her eyes and everything disappeared for a moment, long enough for his entire body to get warm and his nervousness melt away. When she blinked, it broke the spell.

“Now,” she said, letting go of his hands, “Appa takes directional instructions based on which way you pull on the rope.”

Katara was pleased to find Zuko a quick learner and excellent student, asking questions and actually listening to and applying her explanations. She showed him how to get Appa to go whichever direction he wanted, as well as how to get him to take off and land. By the end, Zuko’s pleasure was obvious on his face.

“Sometimes you can give verbal directions,” Katara said, “but that only works in specific situations. For example, that call I taught you is the only thing that can get him to fly. Just asking won’t work. Sometimes you can say, ‘let’s go back to the others,’ and Appa understands, but like I said, it’s very situational.”

“Interesting,” Zuko said. “I never thought I’d see a flying bison, let alone get to ride and pilot one.”

“Did you learn about them in school?”

“A bit. We kind of glanced over airbenders when I was in school. It was mostly about how they were… you know… eradicated,” Zuko said somberly. “There wasn’t much about the culture at all.”

“I learned about flying bison from stories my grandmother told me,” Katara said, trying to push this horrible revelation from her mind for now. “Gran-Gran’s stories are the reason why I knew so much about the Avatar when we found Aang.”

“Hey guys,” Aang said, airbending himself into Appa’s saddle.

Zuko and Katara turned to look at him, and she was horrified to see he was covered in sludge.

“I think this river’s polluted.”

Aang used airbending to get the mud off himself, which splattered Toph and Sokka, who cried out. The young airbender apologetically bended the sludge off them as well.

“Well that explains why I can’t catch a fish around here,” Sokka, who was fishing off the back of Appa’s saddle, said, “because normally my fishing skills are off the hook!”

Sokka held up his fishing hook for emphasis.

When no one reacted, he said, “Get it? Like a fishing hook?”

“Too bad your skills aren’t on the hook,” Toph countered.

As Katara joined in the laughter, she was pleased to feel Zuko shaking with laughter next to her as Sokka grumped.

Standing, she said, “It looks like we’ll need to go somewhere else to get food.”

They landed on the shore and found a nice overhang to camp underneath. Katara and Zuko helped Aang rig up a grass mat to hide Appa under while they went to the village they’d seen in the middle of the river. Once Appa was hidden and Momo took shelter in some nearby grass as well, they all set off towards the village.

On the way, Katara couldn’t keep herself from fiddling with Zuko’s hair to make sure his scar was as hidden as it could be.

“Would you stop?” Zuko said not unkindly. “You’re almost as bad as my uncle.”

“Sorry,” Katara said, falling into step beside him. “I just want to make sure you won’t be recognized.”

“I won’t be,” Zuko said, taking her hand. “Despite what I said earlier, it would really surprise me if this village had any wanted posters at all. It’s extremely out of the way. I didn’t even know it was here, and I was made to memorize most of the towns in the outlying provinces.”

Katara wondered what it was about this village that caused it to be overlooked by Zuko’s teachers, and hoped she would find an answer in the village itself. In the meantime, she enjoyed holding Zuko’s hand and the general warmth that radiated from him.

When they got to the shore again, Toph said, “I don’t feel anything. Where is the village?”

“It’s in the middle of the river,” Sokka explained.

“Sure is!” a voice called to them.

The friends looked to see a man sitting on what looked to be a canoe next to a dock. He had a long stick that was probably used for propelling the canoe.

“My name’s Dock. Mind if I ask who you are?” the man said.

“We’re um… from the Earth Kingdom colonies,” Katara explained.

“Wow! Colonials! Hop on, I’ll give you a ride into town!”

Later, after they cooked the polluted fish Sokka had bought and done their best to consume it, Zuko found Katara sitting away from the others, knees pulled to her chest and looking towards the village.

“You okay?” he asked, sitting next to her.

“Yeah. No. I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t get over how sad those people are. How much help they need.”

“I can’t get over how my father would let this happen to his own people,” Zuko said sourly. “So much for sharing our greatness with the world. We’re polluting and killing our own citizens, and for what?”

“I don’t know,” Katara said. “It’s good to know it’s just as horrifying to you.”

“Of course it is. I care about the people of the Fire Nation, it’s what got me banished in the first place. I just wish there was something I could do for this village.”

“I’ve been thinking of ways we could do something to help them, and the only thing I can think of is stealing food from the factory and taking it to the village.”

“But we have to leave in the morning,” Zuko said, thinking about Sokka’s master plan that was as long as he was.

“I know,” Katara said.

They studied the little village on the river in silence for a few moments.

“What if Appa got sick?” Katara asked suddenly, lowering her voice and scooting closer to him so the others definitely couldn’t hear.

“You’d harm Appa to help the villagers?”

“Of course not,” Katara said, rolling her eyes. “But I could make it look like he’s sick.”

“Can I help? It’s my family’s fault this village is like this. Theirs and this stupid war. If I can do something to help, I will.”

“I’m still thinking of a plan,” Katara said, “but if I can think of a way you can help I’ll be sure to let you know.”

Zuko nodded and they fell into another companionable silence, Zuko leaning back on his hands with one arm behind Katara and her leaning against him with her head on his shoulder. He tried to come up with his own ideas for helping the village, but his skill set wasn’t geared towards helping. All he was capable of was firebending and using dual swords. He supposed he could offer backup as Katara infiltrated the factory.

Katara’s voice broke him out of his reverie.

“I’ve thought of a way you can help.”

“Yeah?”

“You could become Fire Lord when this is all over and make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”

Zuko nodded.

“Yeah, I could.”

_ But would you come with me? _


	8. Spirited Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note - this chapter is not based on the movie. I just liked the title.

“Zuko!”

Katara’s low hiss jerked him out of his admittedly fitful sleep. He rolled over to find her crouched over him, wearing all black.

“What are you doing?” he asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

“I’m going to go raid the factory,” she said quietly. “I just wanted someone to know where I was in case something goes wrong.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No,” she said. “I think it’ll be easier if it’s just one person.”

“Okay. Be safe.”

“I will.”

They looked at each other for a few moments before Katara reached up to run her fingers through his hair and then down the side of his face.

“I’ll be back soon,” she said.

Before she could pull away, Zuko turned his face into her hand and kissed her palm.

Her face turned red and she turned away, holding her hand to her chest as she left his tent.

As he laid back down and listened to her soft footsteps sneak out of camp, he couldn’t help but admire her even more than he already did. There was absolutely no reason for her to help these people, especially because they were Fire Nation. He thought again of Lee, who’d decided he hated Zuko once he learned who he was, and reasoned that even though Katara’s mother had been murdered by the Fire Nation, the Fire Nation hadn’t caused her oppression at the hands of soldiers from her own country, like Lee and his family had had to deal with.

When he thought about it, though, the Fire Nation was the reason why she was the only waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe. He remembered learning in history class about the Southern Raiders, and how they’d captured all of the benders from the South and imprisoned them in the Fire Nation. This led him to wondering whether any of the waterbenders could possibly still be alive and in prison, or whether they’d all died because of time or oppression. From what he knew of Katara, he doubted any Southern waterbender would give up, but not everyone could be as fiery as Katara.

A chuckle escaped his lips at this thought. Katara, of all people, being fiery? He thought of her cool skin and healing touch; he thought of how she’d offered to heal his uncle when Azula had attacked him, how she’d offered to rid him of his scar.

He thought about the reports he’d read from the Fire Nation prison she’d helped earthbenders escape from, how she’d rallied them and helped them find their strength. He thought about how she’d decimated him at the North Pole during that blizzard. He thought about how she’d defended Aang with everything she’d had, and how she always had. He thought about Ba Sing Se, and how she’d yelled at him, holding him accountable for everything he’d done to them.

He thought about her head on his shoulder, her hand in his, her eyes looking at him. He thought about the fire that burned in his chest a little more brightly whenever he was with her, or touching her. He thought about her smile and the effect it had on him.

Yeah, he thought as he finally drifted back to sleep. Katara was definitely fiery.

Katara had thought about asking for Zuko’s help the first night, as carrying enough food from the factory for the entire village was definitely something she didn’t think she could do on her own, but she managed to bend a raft to take it to the village herself, so it had worked out in the end.

The second night he definitely couldn’t help, as she decided to heal the sick people of the village. It was better that she hadn’t brought him, as one of the children saw her. She’d thought about having him check to make sure her disguise looked right, but decided not to bother him with it as she knew he struggled to sleep most nights.

The third night, Aang surprised her by following her. Once he found out what she was doing, he wanted to help her. This was the night she decided to wake Zuko and have him help, as he would be good at breaking things with them.

Zuko was startled awake by a strange figure that looked like the Painted Lady.

“Zuko, it’s me,” Katara’s voice said.

She lifted her hat and he could see that it was, in fact, her.

“Wow,” he said, sitting up. “You look great!”

“Thanks,” she said. “You want to come with us? Aang found me out, and I was thinking about asking you to come anyway because I’m going to go with Sokka’s suggestion and destroy the factory.”

“Sure, I’m game,” Zuko said, throwing his blanket off. “Let’s go.”

If Aang was annoyed Zuko was coming, he didn’t show it.

“What’s the plan?” Zuko asked as they approached the factory.

“Cause as much damage as possible,” Katara said.

On their way back to camp, they were confronted by Sokka and Toph, who had discovered that Katara was making Appa look sick and had been helping the village. Sokka ordered them to leave, but Zuko pointed out that someone was approaching the village from the factory, and Katara realized that the soldiers from the factory were probably going to blame its destruction on the villagers.

Sokka was the one who came up with the plan to help Katara go all spirit world on the soldiers, and they all worked together to create the illusion. While they succeeded in scaring away the soldiers, the villagers eventually saw through the ruse.

Katara apologized for impersonating their river spirit, and Toph suggested from the crowd that the villagers clean up the river. All of them pitched in and it was clean in no time.

The night before they left, Katara startled Zuko awake again by shaking him.

“What now?” he asked, wiping at his eyes.

“I saw the actual Painted Lady,” Katara whispered, eyes wide. “She must have come back because we cleaned the river.”

“That’s good,” Zuko said. “Now she’ll be able to watch over them again.”

“She told me thank you,” Katara said sheepishly.

“Good. You deserve it. You did a great thing.”

“Thanks, Zuko,” she said, blushing slightly.

“No, Katara,” Zuko said, sitting up. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

“What do you mean?”

“These are my people, and there wasn’t anything I could do for them short of becoming Fire Lord and having the factory destroyed. You were able to heal them and feed them and while Aang and I helped you destroy the factory, you were more than prepared to do that on your own too. So thank you for caring about people from the country you hate.”

Katara sat back on her heels, considering this.

“You’re welcome, Zuko,” she said.

After a moment, she said, “Maybe it’s easier for me to care about Fire Nation people because I care about you.”

Zuko felt his face flush.

“I care about you too,” he admitted. “But I feel like you would have helped these people whether I were here or not.”

“You’re probably right,” she said, smiling.

Zuko smiled back, and she threw her arms around his neck. He pulled her into his lap and held her.

“I really do care about you,” she murmured into his neck.

“I know,” he said. “I really do care about you too.”

They held each other for a while before Katara finally left to try to get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all!
> 
> I recently got a Tumblr, and I've decided to start posting a chapter preview on it on a weekday before the weekend I release the chapter. I'm not being specific because I don't want to lock myself into a day and then forget!
> 
> If you want to follow me over there, my Tumblr username is cynical-mystic.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	9. Zuko's New Swords

A few nights later, Zuko found himself helping Aang, Katara, and Toph put out the fire caused by a meteor falling near a village. Sokka held back with Momo, and Zuko was sad to see him so put out about it but there was really no way he could have helped.

The next morning, they all went into the village for food, and when Katara noticed Sokka was sulking, she suggested they go shopping. To Sokka and Zuko’s delight, they went to a weapons store.

While Sokka looked for something to shake up his fighting style, Zuko looked for dual swords. Katara helped him look, and finally they found the one set the store had after Sokka tried them out and almost cut himself to ribbons.

Zuko took them and it felt like he was himself again. Finding an empty corner of the store, he slowly ran through some forms. It was like he could breathe again. He was more than happy to spend the money on them and their sheath.

“I’m glad you found new swords, Zuko,” Toph said. “It would have been bad if you couldn’t defend yourself.”

“I know,” Zuko said. “I’m glad we came here too.”

Zuko and Toph found the others discussing Sokka’s need for a master. When he realized they were talking about Piandao, Zuko lit up.

“I studied with him when I was young!” he said enthusiastically. “He’s the one who taught me how to wield dual swords!”

“Well then he has to be good!” Aang chimed in.

Once they dropped Sokka off at Piandao’s estate and returned to their camp, they all realized they had nothing to do. After about an hour of lazing about and complaining, it occurred to Zuko that this would be the perfect time for Aang to start learning firebending.

“I don’t know, Zuko,” Aang said when Zuko brought this up. “Firebending scares me.”

“Why?”

“The first time I tried it, I burned Katara.”

Zuko glanced at Katara, who was rubbing her hands. Song’s scars flashed in his mind again, but he blinked them away before turning back to Aang.

“I can teach you how to bend fire safely. You don’t need to be afraid of it. Wary, yes, cautious, yes, but not afraid.”

Aang took a deep breath.

“Okay, Zuko. Let’s do this.”

Twenty minutes later, Zuko was at a loss. Katara and Toph stayed well enough away from their training that no one got hurt, but it got to the point where Toph had to create a training ring for them so Aang’s fire wouldn’t burn down the whole field. Zuko wasn’t surprised to find Aang naturally gifted, but was frustrated at his lack of focus.

“Aang, it’s more than just creating fire,” Zuko said for what felt like the tenth time as Aang fell to the ground, defeated after yet another creation of what Zuko could only describe as a fire tornado. “It’s about controlling it. You’re too enthusiastic.”

“What do you mean I’m too enthusiastic?” Aang demanded. “I’m terrified I’m going to burn myself or you every time I complete a form!”

Zuko took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking.

“This probably isn’t necessary anyway,” Aang grumped. “I won’t be able to firebend during the eclipse so what’s the point?”

“The point,” Zuko said, “is that you’re the Avatar and you’re going to have to figure this out eventually. It might as well be now.”

“Is there a way I can help?” Katara asked, peeking over the wall.

“What do you mean?” Aang asked. “You can’t firebend.”

“Maybe Zuko and I could duel and you could watch,” Katara suggested. “Like a demonstration.”

“Yeah,” Zuko said. “Maybe seeing firebending in context instead of just through basic forms will help it click.”

“Okay,” Aang said, shrugging and airbending himself to the top of the wall to help Katara over.

She dropped lightly onto the charred ground and Aang sat on top of the wall.

“Where shall we start?” Zuko asked, but before he’d finished speaking, Katara struck.

Aang watched Katara and Zuko’s mock battle in fascination. It took every ounce of his focus to watch Zuko and not Katara. He didn’t want Zuko to think he was ogling her, especially because they were together. A small part of him was still holding out hope that they wouldn’t last as a couple, but as he continued to watch, their innate synchronicity made his heart sink.

They looked good together, and not just when they were sparring.

Something inside Aang clicked, and he became determined not to screw this up. He wanted to spar with Katara like that, and even Toph, and not come close to actually hurting them. If Zuko was the person who could make it happen, fine. Aang took a deep breath and studied Zuko’s movements more closely.

Katara was fascinated by Zuko’s bending. The only other time they’d sparred like this she hadn’t exactly been focusing on his bending form. As she dodged and weaved and struck at him with her own bending, she couldn’t help but admire him. His movements were fluid and honestly quite beautiful.

After she performed a particular maneuver that made a few muscles she didn’t know she had scream, she noticed Zuko’s eyes widen. He struck back at her with a waterbending form she’d used a few moments prior, and to her amazement it worked. Her mind ran through his prior forms, trying to latch onto one she could adapt, and when she effectively performed it Zuko cracked a smile.

Almost like breathing, they switched from displaying classic forms for Aang to study to experimenting with each other’s forms. At times Zuko’s forms didn’t translate, leading to nothing happening and Zuko chuckling at her, but surprisingly she was able to adapt several forms to waterbending. The same went for Zuko; not everything he tried worked, but enough of it did to make something in Katara soar at seeing waterbending forms reimagined.

Finally, they stopped, both of them breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

“Wow,” Zuko said, unable to take his eyes off her.

His gaze made her warm, and if her cheeks hadn’t already been flushed from the training she would have flushed more.

“That was amazing!” she said, grinning hugely and running to him. “I know we talked about it, but trying it was something else completely!”

“I know,” Zuko said, picking her up by the waist and spinning her in a circle. “Who would have thought such opposite elements could coexist in bending forms so well?”

“Your uncle,” Katara teased, her hands on his chest.

“Right,” Zuko said. “Uncle Iroh figured it out.”

“I think I’m ready, Zuko,” Aang’s voice reminded Katara he was there.

“Great,” Zuko said, slowly turning from her to look at the Avatar but keeping his arms around her. “Let’s take a ten minute break and then we’ll get back to it.”

Katara pulled away from him but he took one of her hands and kissed the back of it before letting her go. She grinned stupidly at him before taking a running jump at the wall and hauling herself over this time.

After their break, Zuko was pleased to find Aang more focused and less explosive, but confused to find he was considerably less talkative. No matter what Zuko tried, Aang would only say a few words at a time. Zuko wanted to chalk it up to his focus, but something told him it had to do with Katara.

“I think that’s good for today, Aang,” Zuko said as the sun began to sink below the wall Toph had constructed.

“Sounds good,” Aang said, dropping out of the form they’d been practicing. “Thanks, Zuko.”

Before Zuko could respond, Aang had airbended himself out of the training ring.

Once Zuko emerged from the ring, he decided to find Katara. He’d managed to keep her out of his mind while he and Aang were working, for the most part, but their duel had been so great he’d found it difficult. He couldn’t wait to talk to her about what they’d discovered.

He found Katara at their camp, but Aang had gotten there first. He was enthusiastically showing Katara all the forms Zuko had taught him, this time with minimal, controlled fire production. As Zuko approached, Katara looked at him and smiled fully before turning back to Aang.

“I’m glad things are going so well,” she said once Aang had finished demonstrating. “Maybe tomorrow we could get some waterbending practice in?”

“And earthbending,” Toph called from where she was digging through her pack. “Why was I the one who made that training ring, hmm?”

As Aang responded to this, Katara approached Zuko and motioned for him to follow her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all!
> 
> If you want to see a preview of the chapters the week before they're posted, follow me on Tumblr. My username is cynical-mystic!


	10. Opposites Attract

“What’s up?” Zuko asked as they settled down next to the nearby stream.

“I wanted to talk,” she said simply.

She’d been thinking about it all afternoon. Not just their training session, but their synchronicity, how they worked and fit together so well despite appearing so different from each other. They’d been dancing around it for weeks and while they’d never stated outright to each other that they were a couple, that was how they acted and how their friends perceived their relationship. She wanted to know whether this was actually going somewhere, or if they were just messing around.

The thought of Zuko thinking it was the latter made her blood run cold.

“What about?” Zuko asked.

“I’d just like a bit of, you know, clarification on some things,” she said.

“What kind of clarification?”

She bit her lip, hoping desperately that she wouldn’t sound crazy.

“This might sound silly,” she said, pulling her knees to her chest, “but could you answer something for me?”

“Of course.”

“What am I to you?”

This was the last question Zuko was prepared to be asked. He’d been thinking about it a lot recently, of course, ever since they’d basically become a couple. It occurred to him she probably wanted to solidify their relationship, either as a couple or as friends. The thought of just being her friend made his throat tight.

He thought about her touch in the crystal catacombs, how she’d defended him to Sokka, how she’d looked at him after their sparring session on the ship, how she believed in him and had even when he hadn’t really believed in himself. He thought about how willing she was to stand up and help people who needed it, even when they were from the same country as the one responsible for killing her mother. He thought about how in the short time they’d been together, she had become so important to him that he found himself praying every night before he went to sleep that she would choose to stay with him.

“Everything,” he said.

This was not the answer Katara was expecting. The thought that she meant so much to Zuko that he would say that set her stomach on fire, and for a moment she didn’t know how to respond. In the past few weeks, he had come to mean so much to her that she found herself daring to hope that, if they all made it through this, she might be allowed to stay by his side. The thought that he wanted that too?

“Really?” she breathed.

“Yes,” Zuko said quietly. “While I believe I would be able to lead the Fire Nation without you, I don’t want to. If we make it through this war alive, I want you to stay with me. Your capacity for love and compassion makes me a better person and I want you with me while I work to restore the Fire Nation’s honor.”

“Did you just propose?” Katara teased breathlessly.

Zuko thought about it, and realized that he basically had.

Before he could say anything, Katara spoke.

“Zuko, if you and I make it through this war alive, I will stay with you,” she said decisively. “I’m invested in the future of the Fire Nation for more than one reason, and it would also rip my heart out to leave you.”

A chuckle escaped him and he pulled her into his arms.

“I’m so relieved,” he said, nuzzling her hair. “I thought you probably felt the same way, but to hear you say it?”

“I know,” she said, leaning into him. “I don’t know what got me in this mood, it was probably how well we sparred together today, but I walked away from that needing to know what I meant to you. Because you mean so much to me, and I don’t want to lose you.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” Zuko said somberly. “I love you, Katara.”

She shivered in his arms, and he kissed her hair.

“I love you too,” she said.

They sat together for a few moments before Zuko remembered something.

“After the invasion, do you want to try to find out what happened to the man who killed your mother? We don’t really have time before.”

“Yes,” Katara sighed. “I would like that very much.”

The night before, Katara had promised to get up with Zuko the next morning to train, but when morning came, Katara wasn’t feeling quite as enthusiastic when he woke her up. She brushed her hair out quickly before emerging from her tent and finding Zuko and Aang waiting for her.

“Let’s go!” the young monk said, jumping excitedly. “I can’t wait to learn more forms!”

“We aren’t doing anything new,” Zuko said, taking the opportunity to hold hands with Katara as the three of them headed towards the training ring. “We’re going to do what we learned yesterday to warm up before you train with Toph and Katara.”

“Ugh,” Aang said, losing his bounce. “Fine.”

Aang earthbended an entrance for them, leaving the gap because they no longer needed to be completely ensconced.

“Okay, Zuko,” Katara said, dropping his hand and stretching out her arms. “Lead the way.”

Zuko led the three of them through the forms Aang had learned yesterday, telling them to refrain from actually doing any bending and just letting their muscles get used to the movements. Katara was pleasantly surprised to realize that the forms Aang had used yesterday were also the forms she’d realized she could adapt to waterbending. She appreciated the different kind of exercise, and let her thoughts wander while they warmed up.

Once they’d worked up a bit of a sweat, Zuko called for a break and they all headed back to camp for water and breakfast. It was Zuko’s turn to prepare a meal, and she was curious to learn what he could cook as she prepared fresh water for everyone.

When they sat down to eat, she examined what Zuko had prepared. It seemed to be some kind of porridge, but she wasn’t sure. When she tasted it, her mouth exploded with flavor much to her surprise and pleasure. It didn’t look like much, but it was delicious.

“What is this, Zuko?” Aang asked before she could.

“It’s juk,” Zuko said as he consumed his own portion. “My uncle made it for me once and taught me how. It’s really easy and versatile. You can do a vegetable type or a meat type depending on what mood you’re in or what meal you’re preparing for.”

“Is this a Fire Nation dish?” Katara asked.

“Honestly I’m not sure,” Zuko admitted. “It could very well be a creation of my uncle’s, or it could be an Earth Kingdom dish. I’d never had it before he made it for me in Ba Sing Se.”

Katara nodded and returned to her bowl.

Katara and Aang spent the rest of that morning waterbending. After lunch, Toph took over with Aang and the two of them trained in earthbending. Zuko relished the time off and spent the morning deciding what forms to teach Aang next, and the afternoon with Katara.

They decided to explore the surrounding area. Shu Jing was one of the most picturesque settlements in the entire Fire Nation as it was situated atop a cliff overlooking waterfalls, and as Zuko had lived in the area for a year when he was younger, he was eager to explore it again with Katara.

“I can’t believe you lived here,” Katara said as they admired the landscape around them. “It’s so beautiful.”

“I know,” Zuko said appreciatively. “It definitely beats living at the top of a volcano.”

“I’ll say.”

They stumbled upon a waterfall with a small pool at the bottom which fed into the larger river the town sat above. Zuko was amused when Katara immediately dunked her hands into the pool. He crouched next to her and did the same.

“I love how you always surround yourself with water,” Zuko said contemplatively as he let the water slip through his fingers. “My father surrounds himself with fire--his throne is practically bathing in it--but I’ve never felt the same compulsion.”

“Not even before what he did to you?” Katara asked, sitting next to the water.

“No,” Zuko said, joining her. “Any true enjoyment I could have gotten from firebending was ruined by Azula. She was so… competitive isn’t the right word. Demeaning is closer. She was a natural and neither her nor my father ever let me forget it. My father told me once that he almost killed me when I was born because he didn’t think I was a firebender.”

“That’s horrific,” Katara murmured. “Every new thing I learn about your father is worse than the last.”

“Yeah. Sometimes I can’t believe I fought so hard to capture Aang just so I could return to all of that, but then I remember for the longest time it was all I knew.”

Katara slipped off her shoes and put her feet in the water. Zuko was tempted to do the same, but he didn’t want to creep her out by just doing everything she was doing, so he restrained himself. Instead, he plucked a nearby blade of grass and fiddled with it.

“So why was Aang with you this morning?” Katara asked eventually. “I thought it’d just be you and me.”

“Well, I accidentally woke him up getting dressed,” Zuko explained. “And when I told him what we were doing he kind of invited himself.”

“I see,” she said.

When Zuko glanced over at her, she was smiling.

“What’s up?”

“I wonder whether he’s trying to get between us.”

Zuko considered this. It wouldn’t surprise him, as Aang’s feelings for Katara weren’t exactly subtle, but as he and Katara were pretty established as a couple he doubted the young monk was making any actual attempts to break them up.

“I guess I could see that,” Zuko admitted. “He really likes you. But I also feel like he likes you enough to let you be happy with whomever.”

“I guess,” Katara said, shoving her toes into the wet earth under the water. “I just wish he would focus on this whole saving the world thing. “Also, he’s twelve. Why is he trying to decide who he’s going to marry right now?”

“You’re fourteen,” Zuko pointed out, “and you’ve more or less decided to marry me.”

“That’s different,” Katara said, blushing. “You’re sixteen, a perfectly reasonable age to consider getting married, and just because I’ve basically picked you doesn’t mean we’ll get married right after the war. We still have to wait until I’m of age.”

“I know,” Zuko said, playfully nudging her with his shoulder.

“Do airbenders even get married?” he asked after a moment, trying to remember his meager education on the subject.

“They didn’t used to,” Katara said, “but he hardly has a choice. It’s not like there’s another temple to send his children to.”

“Hmm.”

“I know I don’t want to be responsible for literally mothering the new airbenders,” Katara mused. “I couldn’t imagine. It also doesn’t make sense for him to marry another bender. If he marries a non-bender it’s more likely his children will be airbenders.”

“Were either of your parents benders?”

“No,” Katara admitted. “But Gran-Gran said her sister was, so that’s probably where the gene came from. It just skipped a few people before it got to me.”

“It’s weird to think that if I were still Fire Prince I’d be betrothed to one of the noblewomen by now.”

“Really?”

“Of course. We can’t have the heir not have a partner,” Zuko said bitterly. “There has to be someone to raise the children.”

“Sounds like you don’t like the idea of getting married.”

“It’s not that,” Zuko assured her. “It’s just that I don’t like the way things have been done in the past. I don’t want you to be like my mother and just raise the kids. If we get married I want you to actually be a part of the nation’s politics. If I do get to be Fire Lord after all this, I’ll need someone who can help me lead.”

Katara nodded.

“Do you like the idea of getting married?”

“I think so,” Katara admitted. “I’ve always wondered who I’d marry, especially because all the kids in my tribe are so much younger than me, and any neighboring tribe was much too far away for any sort of betrothal. When we went to the Northern Water Tribe, I realized that I’d probably end up marrying someone who wasn’t from the Water Tribe, because the North is so different. I had to duel my waterbending master and discover the woman he loved, my grandmother, left the north because she didn’t want to marry him for him to teach me. Women in the North aren’t allowed to fight, and they probably aren’t allowed to do much else. I don’t think I could marry a man from a culture like that.”

“That makes sense,” Zuko said. “It’d be hard to see you in that kind of roll.”

“You know me so well,” she teased before getting to her feet. “We should probably get back to Aang and Toph, make sure they haven’t killed each other.”

“Right.”

On their way back, Katara’s mind drifted to thinking about what it would be like to live in the Fire Nation. Glancing at Zuko out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but think it wouldn’t be that bad. She definitely enjoyed the clothing and learning the culture.

And she could always visit the Southern Water Tribe for diplomatic purposes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my Tumblr, cynical-mystic, for chapter previews every Wednesday!


	11. Grandpa Aang

After they helped Sokka harvest the meteorite to make his sword with Piandao and Sokka completed his training, the five friends and their companions continued traveling east. Aang wanted to stop at some hotsprings they saw as they flew over, but Zuko pointed out the army outpost, so they moved on.

One morning, Aang woke up and told them Avatar Roku had visited him in a dream and told him to go to his home island for the solstice, as there was something he needed to tell Aang. As they were traveling, Zuko received a messenger hawk with two scrolls in it: one from his uncle, and the other much, much older.

_ To understand your life, you must understand your great-grandfather’s death _ , the note from his uncle said.

“How could you get a note from Iroh?” Katara asked, looking at it over Zuko’s shoulder. “Surely he would have been imprisoned after Ba Sing Se?”

“My uncle makes friends everywhere he goes,” Zuko said, weighing the second scroll in his hand. It was much heavier, and not as fragile as he knew it could be.

“At least Zuko has something to do while I commune with Roku,” Aang said.

Zuko separated himself from the others as Aang sat down to meditate on the island that was once Roku’s home. He unrolled the scroll and sat down to read.

Hours later, he and Aang filled the others in on the history of Avatar Roku’s friendship with Fire Lord Sozin.

“I still don’t get it,” Zuko said as he carefully tucked the scroll away in his pack. “This story had nothing to do with my great-grandfather’s death. He was still alive at the end.”

“What if Avatar Roku was your great-grandfather?” Sokka suggested. “You know, on your mother’s side?”

“That would explain why you’ve struggled so much with doing the right thing or doing what your family expects,” Toph added.

Zuko considered this. He supposed it was possible his mother’s grandfather had been Avatar Roku. It would make sense that his father would marry into the family of a previous Avatar. It would be the ultimate power move.

“I can’t believe it,” Zuko said, shaking his head.

“C’mere, sonny boy!” Aang said, holding his arms open for Zuko.

“No thank you,” Zuko said, scooting away. “Just because your past life was my relative doesn’t mean you are.”

“I guess not,” Aang said, dropping his arms.

“Maybe Zuko is just embarrassed to have a twelve-year-old great-grandfather,” Sokka teased.

“Aang is technically one hundred and twelve,” Katara added, smiling at Zuko.

“Oh hush, all of you,” Zuko said, rolling his eyes. “Aang is not my grandfather.”

“Not anymore, at least,” Aang said.

“Can we stop talking about this and try to figure out what we’re supposed to learn from it?” Zuko asked.

All of them thought about this.

“I think it’s about how every life has value,” Aang said finally. “Roku didn’t want to kill Sozin because they were friends.”

“What about the part where Roku said friendships can outlive lifetimes?” Toph asked.

“I don’t see why they couldn’t,” Aang said.

Aang, Toph, and Katara held hands.

“Scientifically speaking, there’s no way to prove--” Sokka said.

“Just hold hands,” Katara said.

Sokka grabbed Toph’s hand.

“You too, Zuko,” Aang said.

Zuko grabbed Katara’s hand, and a warm feeling spread through his entire body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out new chapter previews on Wednesdays on my Tumblr, cynical-mystic!


	12. Helping Katara Out

“Toph, these schemes need to stop!” Katara said.

She was standing over the young earthbender with her hands on her hips. Zuko was stirring the soup they were going to have for dinner, trying to stay out of things. Sokka and Aang were looking on, Aang looking a bit afraid of Katara and Sokka glancing up every now and then from his new atlas to check on things.

“Why?” Toph demanded. “We have more money than we ever have before, we don’t have to worry about anything, and best of all, this is the most fun I’ve had this entire trip. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“You could get arrested!”

“She can metalbend,” Aang cut in.

Katara whirled on him, giving him a glare that would have incinerated him on the spot if it could have. Aang shrunk away from her.

“Katara, I’m not going to get caught,” Toph said. “It’s not like we’re going to be here forever anyway.”

“Fine,” Katara snapped. “I just hope you don’t get into any trouble. And even if you do, don’t come crying to me for help!”

Katara stalked over to where Zuko was sitting and sat down next to him.

“I can’t believe her,” Katara muttered.

“I mean, there’s something to be said for being tired of struggling,” Zuko said thoughtfully, not looking at her. “Especially if you’re not used to it and you’re doing it for someone you care about.”

“What do you mean?” Katara demanded. “Stealing is wrong, no matter what!”

“Katara, I’d like to point out that you stole supplies from that factory to give to that town.”

“Not to mention that waterbending scroll,” Sokka chimed in.

Katara huffed, pulling her feet to her chest.

“Maybe not no matter what then,” she conceded. “But this? We don’t need any more than we already have. It’s not like we’re staying here forever! We don’t need to live in the lap of luxury.”

Zuko pictured all of the things he’d stolen and brought back for Iroh when they were in the Earth Kingdom, and his stomach clenched.

“Maybe not,” Zuko admitted.

That night, Zuko was rudely awoken by the ground shaking beneath him. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer laying where he had been previously.

He sat up, looking around wildly, and found himself as far from the camp as he could be and still see it. Toph was sitting on a rock next to him.

“So, Sparky,” she said nonchalantly. “What do you know about stealing things?”

His stomach sank. He knew he shouldn’t have said anything the night before.

“I stole a lot when my uncle and I were on the run in the Earth Kingdom,” he admitted.

“Why didn’t you say something before?” Toph demanded. “We could have been doing great things together.”

“Well, I could see how angry it was making Katara, and I didn’t want to make it worse for her. She’s just trying to keep all of us safe.”

“So you think stealing is wrong too, now?”

“In certain situations, like life or death, no. But like this? This is too much, Toph. I think you should stop. We have more than enough to get us through to the invasion, and we can’t really plan for after that.”

Toph considered this.

“You’ve got a point, Sparky,” she said finally. “Maybe I should cool things down. Sokka had this whole conversation with me earlier about how Katara was forced to be a mom after their mom died, and it changed how I thought about things. And then I wanted your perspective, so here we are.”

“Yeah. I probably should have said something sooner. Katara shouldn’t be the only responsible one around here.”

“You’re pretty responsible, what with all the cooking you do. I don’t think Katara has had to cook for weeks.”

“That’s what I was trying to do, keep her from having to worry about feeding all of us. She works so hard making sure everyone is taken care of that I wanted to do something to ease her burden.”

Toph nodded.

“You’re a good guy, Zuko. And from now on, no more schemes. I promise.”

“Katara, I have to tell you something.”

Toph’s voice woke Zuko up from the pitiful sleep he’d managed to fall into after she’d made him walk all the way back to camp after they’d talked. He rolled over and pulled his blanket over his head, but couldn’t block out the conversation.

“What’s up, Toph?”

“I thought about what you said yesterday, and you’re right. No more schemes from now on.”

“What changed your mind?” Katara’s voice was suspicious to Zuko’s ears.

“I realized I’ve been causing you even more trouble than you already have to deal with,” Toph said. “We have enough money, so you don’t need to worry about that anymore, which is good, but I shouldn’t be making you worry about whether I’ll end up in jail.”

“Wow, Toph. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Katara.”

Zuko heard Sokka and Aang start to get up, and groaned.

“Wake up, sleepy head!” Toph shouted, and before Zuko knew it, she’d used earthbending to throw him into the air.

“Toph!” he shouted, flailing as he landed. “What was that for?”

“Eavesdropping,” Toph said.

“Whatever.”

“Really though,” Toph said, walking over to him and sitting down next to his bed. “Thanks for talking to me last night.”

“It’s not like you gave me much of a choice.”

“I know. But thanks anyway.”

“You’re welcome, Toph.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	13. The Southern Waterbender

A few days later found them in the middle of a forest telling ghost stories.

Sokka told them the story of a man with a sword for a hand, thoroughly disappointing all of them, and as Katara wrapped up a story about her mother’s encounter with the ghost of a dead friend, they were interrupted.

“Hello.”

All of them jumped, turning around to figure out where the voice had come from.

Zuko was wary to see a little old lady in the middle of the woods at night, but he supposed it couldn’t be that strange, as they were in the woods as well.

“These woods are dangerous at night,” the woman said. “My name is Hama. I own an inn nearby. Why don’t the five of you come stay there?”

“Yes please,” Sokka said weakly.

While Zuko was pleased to see Katara was bonding with Hama, he was still suspicious of the old woman. He didn’t like how she looked at him, and had a sneaking suspicion that she knew who he was. Zuko did his best to keep his head down, but knew it wouldn’t help if she really did know who he was.

Sokka shared Zuko’s suspicion about Hama, albeit for a different reason. When they were snooping around her house, trying to find out more about her, she caught them having broken into her attic and attempting to open the only box in the room. She took the box from them and opened it, revealing a comb that made Katara gasp.

“This is the only thing I have left from growing up in the Southern Water Tribe,” Hama said.

“You’re from the Southern Water Tribe?” Sokka gasped.

“Yes,” she said. “I bought all this food because I wanted to surprise you by making a Water Tribe feast. Ocean cumquats are very similar to sea prunes if you cook them long enough.”

Aang made a gagging sound.

“Come on,” Hama said, gesturing for them to follow. “Let’s make dinner!”

“Who wants five flavor soup?”

All of them raised their hands, and Hama waterbended the soup into their bowls, causing Katara to jump in her chair with excitement.

“You’re a waterbender! I’ve never met another waterbender from our tribe!”

“That’s because the Fire Nation wiped them out.”

Zuko slunk down further in his chair as Hama told the story of how the Southern waterbenders had been systematically captured and imprisoned, several by several, until Hama was the only one left. Of course she was eventually captured and brought to the Fire Nation, but wouldn’t tell them how she escaped. Zuko couldn’t help but wonder how she’d managed it; according to the history books, the waterbenders had been completely isolated from water, much like the prisons in the middle of the ocean for earthbenders.

“It’s amazing you survived,” Zuko said. “I learned about the imprisonment of the Southern waterbenders in school, but had no idea any of them were still alive.”

“I was the last one,” Hama said, her voice still sad but her eyes sharp when they looked at Zuko. “By the time I escaped, everyone else was gone.”

Katara put an arm around Hama’s shoulders.

“We lost our mother in a Fire Nation raid,” she said.

“You poor dears,” Hama said, putting a hand on Katara’s. “How would you like it if I taught you some real Southern waterbending?”

“Yes!” Katara said, releasing Hama and clasping her hands together. “Please. To learn my culture? It would be an honor.”

The next day, while Katara and Hama were training, Aang, Zuko, Sokka, and Toph decided to investigate the town. According to Hama and several of the shopkeepers they’d met the previous day, people had been disappearing during the full moon. The next night was it, and they thought maybe a spirit had something to do with it.

“I don’t think it was a spirit, guys,” Aang said as they examined the landscape surrounding the town. “This is one of the most beautiful places in the Fire Nation. There’s no way it’s because of the spirit world.”

“Then what could it be?” Toph asked.

“Maybe an innkeeper with a grudge against the Fire Nation?” Zuko suggested mildly.

The other three thought about it and then one by one they shook their heads.

“She’s way too frail to overpower people,” Sokka pointed out.

As they returned to the inn, Zuko hoped he was right.

“Zuko, this was the best day of my life!”

After dinner, Katara had made a beeline for his room and flopped onto his bed. He sat next to her and she put her legs in his lap.

“She taught me so many techniques,” Katara gushed, throwing her arms out across the bed. “Not just survival techniques, but several forms that were unique to the Southern Water Tribe!”

“That’s amazing,” Zuko said, grinning beside himself. “I’m glad you get this opportunity.”

“So am I. I never would have thought we’d run across a master waterbender in the middle of the Fire Nation!”

“I know. I honestly thought all of them had died.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about what happened to the Southern waterbenders?” Katara asked, propping herself up on her elbows.

“I didn’t think about it,” he admitted. “I guess it was a cross between I thought you knew and I thought all of them had died, so it never occurred to me to bring them up.”

“I guess that’s reasonable,” Katara said, flopping onto her back again. “She said she’s going to teach me the ultimate waterbending technique tomorrow night! Apparently it can only be performed during a full moon because that’s when we’re strongest.”

“Sounds cool.”

Katara looked at him for a moment.

“Look at me, just going on and on about my day,” she said. “What did you get up to?”

“Aang, Sokka, Toph, and I tried to figure out what’s making people disappear,” Zuko said with a shrug. “We didn’t get very far.”

“Oh,” Katara said. “Well, I guess I’d better go to bed.”

She swung her legs off his lap and got to her feet.

“Good night, Zuko.”

Zuko stood to hug her and kiss her forehead.

“Good night, Katara.”

The next morning, before the sun had risen, Zuko got up to do his training. As he began, he felt a weird sensation come over him, and suddenly he couldn’t move his own limbs. It was like someone else was controlling him, and he found himself being forced to walk to the mountain. He remembered Toph’s attempts to scare them during their ghost story session with talk about how there were people in the mountain screaming, and wondered if he was about to join them.

“Where’s Zuko?”

Katara found Sokka in the kitchen munching on some rolls for breakfast with Aang.

“I don’t know,” Sokka said, swallowing his bite. “Doesn’t he usually get up crazy early to go practice? Maybe he’s still practicing.”

“I saw your friend heading to town,” Hama said as she entered the kitchen. “Perhaps he wanted to do some more shopping before you all continue your travels.”

“Maybe,” Katara said, uneasy.

It was unusual for Zuko to not say good morning, and his absence affected her more than she thought it would. She liked his little rituals of telling her good morning and offering her that day’s attempt at tea, as well as getting up early to train and her occasionally joining him.

Later that day, Aang, Sokka, and Toph resumed their investigation, managing to track down an old man who had survived being kidnapped. He told them it wasn’t a spirit that had tried to capture him; he had lost the ability to use his limbs and was driven towards the mountain. Toph insisted that she had actually heard people under the mountain, and the three of them set off to see if it was true.

As for Zuko, he had been unceremoniously chained up by Hama, who had crooned in his ear, “I see you with Katara, you filthy Fire Nation boy. She’s much too good for you.”

While he sometimes thought this too, coming from Hama it made him furious. He would have done something, but of course he was completely under her control and couldn’t move.

When she left, Zuko looked around him to see dozens of others chained up just like him.

“How long have all of you been here?” Zuko asked.

“This all started about a year ago,” one woman said. She could barely hold herself up; the only thing keeping her on her feet was the fact she was chained to the wall like everyone else. “She feeds us about once a week, but sometimes she forgets.”

“She tells us how horrible the Fire Nation is,” a man chimed in, his voice weak. “How we all deserve to rot in prison just like she would have.”

“Do you know how she does this?” a third person asked Zuko from somewhere he couldn’t see.

“I just know she’s a waterbender.”

“Is that how she controls us?” the first woman whispered. “Is this what waterbenders are capable of?”

“I’m not sure,” Zuko admitted.

Could it be possible to use waterbending to control people?

Aang, Toph, and Sokka burst into the cave. The first person they saw was Zuko, and Sokka unchained him. Toph went to work on the others.

“Who is doing this?” Sokka demanded.

“It was Hama,” Zuko said, rubbing his wrists. “She’s somehow using waterbending to control people.”

“Katara’s with her right now!”

His own pain forgotten, Zuko bolted out of the cave, Sokka and Aang on his heels.

“Bloodbending?”

Katara was simply horrified. She couldn’t imagine taking someone else’s autonomy away from them, let alone using it to cause harm.

“This is how I escaped, Katara,” Hama cackled. “My cell was unlocked by the very guard assigned to keep me in.”

“Give it up, Hama!” Aang’s voice called.

Katara looked and saw Aang, Sokka, and Zuko emerge from the trees.

“How did you escape?” Hama demanded, looking at Zuko.

A cold fury erupted in Katara’s stomach as she realized what Hama had done.

“These two found me,” Zuko said, falling into a bending form. “You won’t get away with this.”

“It’s four against one, Hama,” Sokka said, raising his sword.

“You’re wrong,” Hama cackled, and before Katara could move, Hama had control of Sokka and Zuko.

“No!” Aang and Katara cried together as the old woman made their friends attack them.

She made Sokka smack Aang upside the head with the hilt of his sword, causing him to fly into a tree. Katara managed to dodge Zuko and keep him from hurting her, and that was when Hama changed course.

“You can keep them from hurting you, Katara,” she said, “but you can’t keep them from hurting each other!”

Hama caused the boys to fly at each other, Sokka’s sword raised.

“No!” Katara cried, raising her hands to do something, anything, and suddenly she felt Hama’s life force and knew what she had to do.

Sokka and Zuko fell to the ground as Katara forced Hama down with bloodbending. Aang managed to get to his feet just in time for Toph and the rest of the captured villagers to arrive to arrest Hama.

Katara released her and turned away, covering her mouth with her hand and her stomach with her arm, trying to keep herself from vomiting.

“You’re going to be locked up for a long time,” the villager who was handcuffing Hama said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Hama said. “Congratulations, Katara. You’re a bloodbender.”

Katara’s eyes filled with tears and she collapsed.

Someone caught her, and from the smell of his shirt she knew it was Zuko. She buried her face in his chest and he held her tight, burying his face in her hair.

“You’re okay,” he murmured. “Everything is going to be okay.”

She knew that both of them knew better, but she let his comforting words wash over her.

The villagers let them stay in the inn for the rest of the night, but Katara couldn’t sleep. She kept flexing her fingers, feeling the pulsing of Hama’s blood under her hands and trying to get it out of her head. It wasn’t working, no matter how much ash banana juice she drank.

“That stuff is awful,” Zuko said.

She looked up to see him standing in the doorway with a pot of tea and two cups on a tray.

“You couldn’t sleep either?”

“Not after seeing the look on your face when she congratulated you,” Zuko admitted as he poured them each a cup of tea. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t be sleeping either so I came down here. When I saw you were awake I decided to try another tea recipe on you, get your mind off things.”

“Thanks, Zuko,” she said, giving him a weak smile as she took the warm teacup. “I really appreciate it.”

“You’re more than welcome,” he said as he took his own cup and drank. “I think I’m getting closer.”

Katara took a drink and almost choked.

“Definitely better than last time,” she said with a cough. “At least I can swallow this one.”

“Good,” Zuko said, smiling. “I’m making progress.”

They sat in silence for a while as they drank their tea. Katara didn’t really want to talk about what happened and couldn’t stop thinking about how the night before she’d burst into Zuko’s room so excited to learn about her heritage. She couldn’t believe this was what she’d inherited.

“Now, I don’t know what you’re thinking,” Zuko’s voice broke into her thoughts, “but I need you to know this bloodbending thing isn’t a Southern waterbending tradition. It’s some crazy thing Hama made up to get herself out of a bad situation. This is not what your culture is.”

Katara stared at him.

“What?”

“Thank you for knowing exactly what to say.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Zuko?” Katara asked, setting her cup on the table.

“Yeah?”

“Would it be totally crazy to ask if I could sleep with you tonight?” she whispered.

“No,” he said, setting his own cup down. “Let’s go try to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out chapter previews on Wednesdays on my Tumblr, cynical.mystic!


	14. Aang's Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update...turns out I have COVID and quite frankly I felt horrible on Sunday.

During the flight to the island Sokka and Hakoda had picked out for the invasion rendezvous, Zuko tried to distract himself by rereading the scroll Iroh had sent him. He tried to see if there were any secret messages, even going so far as to almost set it on fire, hoping for special ink, but there was nothing. Frustrated, he shoved the scroll back into his pack and thought about holding Katara as they’d fallen asleep together.

“Here we are!” Aang called from the reins as he began to bring them down.

Once Appa’s feet touched down, Zuko started helping Sokka unload their packs.

“This island is so nice,” Katara said, jumping down to help catch their things. “How did you guys pick it?”

“It’s only a few hours from the Fire Nation capital by boat,” Sokka explained, “and it’s uninhabited.”

“Mostly,” Katara said, looking at the koala sheep that were eyeing them disinterestedly.

“They’re harmless,” Zuko said, jumping down with the last pack in his hands. “They only eat one type of leaf and it’s only found on this island.”

“Wow,” Aang said, jumping down from Appa’s head. “So these are the only ones that exist?”

“Pretty much,” Zuko said.

“That’s nice and all,” Sokka said as he and Toph climbed down, “but we need to get camp set up. Just because we’re three days early doesn’t mean we have all the time in the world.”

“Wait, how many days?” Aang asked.

“Three,” Toph said.

“Three days?!” Aang cried, grabbing the sides of his head with his hands. “There are only three days until I face the Fire Lord?”

“Yep,” Toph said. “You feeling ready, Twinkle Toes?”

“Not at all!”

“Come on, Aang, you’re going to be fine,” Zuko said. “You’ve been training for this since you woke up. And your firebending has come a long way.”

“Your earthbending too,” Toph added. “You could still use some work though.”

“Toph,” Katara scolded, approaching Aang, who was physically shaking.

“You’re going to be just fine, Aang,” she said, putting an arm around his shoulders. “Like Zuko said, you’ve been training for this for months.”

“I know,” Aang said nervously. “I just don’t… you know… feel ready.”

“I don’t think anyone ever does,” Sokka said. “Now let’s get camp set up.”

In the middle of the night, everyone was woken up by Aang screaming.

“I forgot my pants!”

Zuko looked over at the young airbender, who was clearly wearing pants, and rolled over in his sleeping bag. They hadn’t bothered to pitch their tents as the weather was nice.

“No you didn’t,” he grumbled. “Go back to sleep.”

“What’s wrong, Aang?” Katara asked from her own sleeping bag, which Zuko was amused to find had migrated closer to his during the course of the night.

“I had a dream that I was facing the Fire Lord and I wasn’t wearing any pants,” Aang explained desperately.

“It was just a dream,” Katara soothed. “Lay back down and go back to sleep.”

“Okay,” Aang said.

Zuko found himself wishing he was in his own bed in his own room, miles away from here, so he wouldn’t have to deal with this nonsense.

That morning, Aang shook Zuko awake and Zuko almost punched him.

“What do you want?” Zuko demanded, sitting up and wiping his eyes.

“I had a dream where you betrayed us and helped your father fight me,” Aang said, real anger in his eyes.

“Zuko wouldn’t do that,” Sokka said blearily.

“How do you know?” Aang demanded, whirling around to face him. “Maybe you’re working with him too!”

“Zuko isn’t going to betray us!” Toph said. “Now shut up and let us sleep!”

“Katara, what do you think?” Aang demanded.

Zuko looked at Katara, who was looking at Aang, obviously annoyed.

“Aang, I will vouch for Zuko’s character every day if you make me. He isn’t going to betray us.”

“Whatever,” Aang said, shooting Zuko a red-eyed glare as he stalked away from camp.

“What was that about?” Sokka asked, sitting up.

“Like he said, it was another dream,” Katara said, getting up and grabbing her pack to get ready for the day.

“It’s ridiculous to think that Zuko would betray us,” Toph said with a yawn as she tucked her hands behind her head and closed her eyes.

Before he could thank her, Toph was asleep again. Zuko looked at Sokka and realized he was asleep too.

When Zuko turned to Katara, she was grinning.

“Want to go back to sleep?” he asked, holding out his arms for her.

“As tempting as that is,” she teased, “we should probably go train.”

Zuko groaned and got up.

They found a nice place to train away from the camp and where Aang had gone. The others were still in sight so they’d see them when they woke up, but they were far enough away to not be able to hear them. Zuko started leading Katara through some of the forms they’d been practicing together, and they worked in silence for a while.

When the sun was completely risen, Katara spoke.

“I think Aang’s dream doesn’t mean that you’ll betray all of us,” she said, “but that he feels like you’re betraying him.”

“How am I betraying him?” Zuko demanded. “I don’t even know him that well. I didn’t even know he had a thing for you until after we were together.”

“Maybe after the invasion you can make an effort to bond with him?” Katara suggested. “I really shouldn’t be your only friend in our group.”

“You’re not. Toph and I are friends. And Sokka and I.”

“I’ve seen you speak with both of them a handful of times at most.”

“Okay, fine,” Zuko admitted. “Even though I’ve been training Aang, I haven’t really gotten to know him. Maybe he and I need to go on a trip together. Just the two of us.”

“That would probably be helpful. Aang thrives in one-on-one encounters.”

Zuko’s thoughts drifted away into potential trips he and Aang could go on, but Katara’s voice interrupted his mind again before he got too far.

“How were you taught about the Southern waterbenders?”

Zuko stopped training and winced.

Katara stopped too and looked at him, waiting for him to answer.

“In our textbooks, there were pictures of Fire Nation soldiers catching waterbenders in nets,” he said quietly. “All of the waterbenders and Water Tribe people had been depicted as savage: unkempt hair, ripped clothes, thin and emaciated. I always knew the emaciated bit was propaganda showing how much of a service the Fire Nation had done to the Water Tribe, but I’m still not sure if it was ‘Look, they don’t have near as many mouths to feed anymore with their scarce resources!’ or, ‘Let’s punish these savages for their savage bending ways’ propaganda.”

He couldn’t look at Katara as a wave of shame washed over him.

“Is that what you were thinking about when we first met?”

“No,” he admitted. “I didn’t think of you as savages. I knew you were the victims.”

“Look at me, Zuko.”

After a long moment, he finally looked up at her, and when he did he was surprised to find she wasn’t angry.

“You don’t have to carry the weight of what the Fire Nation has done on your shoulders,” she said quietly.

“Not yet.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

“Thank you for telling me,” Katara said.

“I’m so sorry, Katara.”

“Stop it,” she said, stepping closer to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. “It wasn’t you, so stop apologizing. Just make up for it when you’re Fire Lord.”

“I will,” he promised, wrapping his arms around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical.mystic!


	15. Therapy

Over that day and the next, Aang’s dreams got so bad he refused to sleep and they were creeping into daytime. When Aang woke them up early once again the day before the invasion, Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Zuko decided something had to be done. After breakfast, they staged an intervention.

“I’m going to teach you some relaxing yoga poses to help you sleep,” Katara said.

“Okay.”

“I’m going to help you talk out your feelings,” Sokka said, donning a fake beard Zuko was very curious to know the origins of.

“I’ve got some earthbending massage techniques that might help,” Toph said enthusiastically.

“I’m going to be Uncle Iroh,” Zuko said, “and we’re going to have a long talk over a nice cup of tea.”

Katara glanced at him, grinning, and he shrugged. It was the only idea he had.

As Zuko was the newest member of the group, his session with Aang went last. Zuko had done his very best to brew the tea correctly and was sure he’d finally gotten it right. He handed Aang a cup and took one for himself.

“Now, tell me what’s bothering you,” Zuko said, taking a sip of the tea.

It still wasn’t right.

“Oh, nothing,” Aang said, not even drinking the tea. “I just have to fight the most powerful firebender in the world tomorrow and everything’s riding on the result of my battle with him.”

Aang downed the tea in one gulp, and Zuko could only believe the only reason Aang didn’t choke it back up was because he was so out of it.

“Also, you’re with Katara and I’m not.”

Zuko tried to mask his reaction to this. He’d had a feeling, ever since Katara had interpreted Aang’s second dream, that this was also bothering Aang, but it was something else to hear it out loud from Aang himself.

“Okay,” Zuko said after a moment. “Which of these issues would you like to address first?”

“I guess the firelord one,” Aang said. “Got any tips?”

“My father only knows how to firebend,” Zuko said. “He knows no secondary way of defending himself. He’ll be really easy to take out.”

“Right,” Aang said, looking away.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to kill him.”

“What do you mean?! That’s what Avatars do! That’s exactly how Roku failed and Sozin was able to begin the war!”

“I know,” Aang said, facing him again and staring at his hands. “But the monks always told me that all life is sacred. I just can’t imagine myself taking a life. I’m a vegetarian!”

“You’ve watched Sokka prepare tons of meat.”

“And I’ve prayed for every single one of their tiny, animal souls.”

“What about the North Pole? I watched you kill tons of Fire Nation soldiers.”

“That wasn’t me; that was the ocean spirit using my body.”

It was everything Zuko could do not to roll his eyes.

“While your value for life is admirable,” he said measuredly, “how else would you keep my father from simply escaping jail and rising back to power? If you don’t kill him, anyone else you put on the throne would be illegitimate. Even me.”

“I know,” Aang said. “That’s why I’m so frustrated!”

They sat in silence for a few moments.

“I wish there was a way I could take his bending away,” Aang said finally.

“The only way I know of to do that is chi-blocking,” Zuko said, forgetting what was in the cup he was holding and taking another sip.

“Like that girl that’s friends with your sister!”

“Yeah,” Zuko said, dumping his “tea” on the ground, “too bad she didn’t turn sides and come with you guys so she could teach you how to do it.”

“Yeah,” Aang said, slumping and holding his chin in his hand.

Zuko tried to find something, anything to say that wouldn’t move the conversation to Katara, but he came up dry, so he said:

“Now talk to me about Katara.”

“I’ve been in love with her from the beginning,” Aang said, not looking at him. “As soon as I woke up and she was the first thing I saw.”

Zuko didn’t respond to this. Emboldened, Aang continued.

“She’s beautiful and kind and smart and funny, and I love her. I gave up the Avatar State for her!”

“Has she ever shown any romantic interest in you?”

“Once,” Aang grumped. “When we were trapped in the Cave of Two Lovers, she suggested we try kissing to find the way out of the labyrinth. We went in to kiss as our torch went out, but we didn’t even get to before the crystals in the ceiling lit up and she realized that was how we could escape.”

Only about half of this made sense to Zuko, but he didn’t ask for clarification.

“I tried to ask her out when we were in a village with a fortune teller,” Aang continued, “but it didn’t work out. The only thing I have going for me is that the fortune teller told her she’d marry a very powerful bender. Who’s more powerful of a bender than me?”

Zuko didn’t know how to answer this.

“She just sees me as a friend,” Aang said, throwing himself back onto the ground. “It’s so frustrating. And then you come along when I’m unconscious for three weeks and suddenly you’re together even though you chased us for months and now my chance is over.”

“Have you ever talked to her about your feelings?”

“No,” Aang admitted. “And there’s no point anymore. I can see how happy she is with you.”

Zuko was impressed Aang was able to see things this way, but he still felt bad for the kid.

“Look, I’m not going to apologize for loving Katara too, because quite honestly she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Zuko said. “But I do feel bad for how you’re feeling. I had no idea you liked her until she and I were already together.”

“I know,” Aang said. “Thanks, Zuko.”

When they got back to the others, they discovered Sokka, Katara, and Toph had constructed a bed made of the wool of the koala sheep for Aang to finally get some sleep on. Once the airbender was asleep, the rest of them retreated to their own sleeping bags.

“What did you and Aang talk about?” Katara asked as they got ready for bed.

“Just, you know,” Zuko said, shaking out his sleeping bag. “How he could defeat my father. You.”

“Me?”

“Of course you,” Zuko said. “That’s all Aang is about. Defeating the Fire Lord, and you.”

“What did he say about me?”

“He mostly talked about how he’s mad at me for swooping in when he was unconscious for three weeks, but he won’t do anything about his feelings because he can see we’re happy.”

“That’s mature of him.”

Zuko nodded, and the two settled down for the night, laying close enough they could hold hands.

“I love you, Zuko,” Katara murmured.

“I love you too, Katara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic. Chapter excerpts every Wednesday!


	16. The Invasion - Katara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I apologize for my absence these past two weeks. Depression on top of COVID is... not fun. Anyway, my plan is to upload a chapter today, tomorrow, and Sunday to get us back on track. Thanks for reading!

The next morning, Katara was surprised to find she’d woken up before Zuko. As she brushed out her hair and prepared her Water Tribe clothes, she thought about their conversation the night before. She was glad Aang wasn’t planning on doing anything about his feelings for her, but she was kind of sad that he was feeling rejected. Even though that was never her intention, it was the result.

Zuko stirred after she’d finished changing and was wrapping her wrists. He was the second person to wake up, but Toph wasn’t far behind. Aang woke up and took it upon himself to wake Sokka. None of them talked as they got ready.

“Aang, you should eat something,” Katara said as she strapped two waterskins across her body.

“I can’t,” Aang said. “I’m too nervous.”

“Fair,” Sokka said, clutching his stomach.

Katara left them, grabbing some jerky to munch on her way to the ocean to fill up her waterskins. Toph, to Katara’s surprise, followed her.

“Everything’s going to be different after today, isn’t it?” the younger girl asked.

“Yeah,” Katara said, uncapping the waterskins and bending water into them. “I sure hope so.”

“You don’t think Aang can win?”

“I never said that,” Katara asserted. “I’m just worried that somehow they’ll know we’re coming and they’ll lay some sort of trap.”

“Even if somehow they did know, we’ll figure it out.”

As Toph walked away to finish getting ready, Katara prayed she was right.

It was decided Aang would ride Appa until they got through the Great Gates of Azulon. Then he would take to the air and Katara would take over for him, bending a bubble of water with air in it around her and Appa’s head so they could go underwater with the submarines Sokka had helped design. Zuko would be on the same sub as Katara for the first leg, and then join Aang in the air for the second, as he was the one who would be able to help Aang figure out where the Fire Lord was. Toph would be in the sub with all the earthbenders while Sokka was with their father.

“You ready?” Katara asked Zuko as they boarded the ship that was attached to the sub they’d be riding.

“As I’ll ever be,” Zuko said.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Katara said, trying to convince herself as much as him.

“What’s eating you?”

“Is there any way they could know we’re coming?”

Zuko considered this as they shoved off with the other ships.

“Azula’s capable of anything,” Zuko said as they sat down together against the rail of the ship and he put his arm around her. “Honestly, it would surprise me if she didn’t know we were coming. Especially as she captured all of the Earth Kingdom nobles who would know about the plan, if the Earth King himself didn’t tell her when she, Mai, and Ty lee were disguised as Kyoshi Warriors.”

“Great,” Katara said, rubbing her arm.

“It’ll be okay, Katara,” Zuko said, squeezing her gently. “Even if Azula knows we’re coming, the only precaution they’ll take is to go to the bunker inside the volcano. I can get Aang into it and to my father.”

“I know, I know. It’s just really hard to believe today could be the day it’s finally all over.”

“Yeah,” Zuko said, looking off into the distance. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Katara was one of the three chosen to do the first round of waterbending to keep the subs moving once they embarked and detached from the Water Tribe ships. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she flowed through the movements, causing the sub to move through the water as though it were a fish. The two members of the Foggy Swamp Tribe were great help, as this was definitely a three person job.

Soon enough, the time came for them to surface to refresh the air in the submarines. Katara and Zuko headed to the top of the sub for fresh air, where they met Sokka and Aang.

“It’s almost time,” Sokka said.

Katara was glad to see her brother looking nervous too.

“In a few hours, the world could be totally different,” Zuko commented.

“It will be,” Aang said, tapping his new staff on the top of the sub.

Examining Aang made Katara realize just how much he’d grown up in the few months she’d known him. Sure he was still goofy and ridiculous, but he was still only twelve. In some ways he was older than he seemed, but no one could grow up completely in only a few months. Not even the Avatar.

“We’re about to leave,” Aang said to Zuko.

“I’ll give you guys a moment,” Sokka said, going back into the submarine.

Aang looked at Katara for a long moment before opening his glider and taking off, giving Katara and Zuko a surprise moment alone.

“What are you going to do if Aang succeeds?” Katara breathed.

“Fight Azula for my throne,” Zuko said.

“I feel like I should be going with you.”

Zuko stepped forward and put his hand on her cheek. She leaned into him, breathing him in.

“We’re both going to be where we’re needed most,” he said softly. “If Aang kills my father, the Fire Sages will force Azula and I to wait to fight until we can do a proper agni kai. If that happens, I will win. For my people.

“And for you.”

Katara threw her arms around his neck and kissed Zuko straight on the mouth, pulling him as close to her as she could manage. His arms settled around her and he held her tightly to his chest, their mouths moving together as perfectly as their whole bodies did when they were sparring. 

When they pulled apart, Zuko pressed his lips to her forehead and then let her go.

“Don’t you die on me,” she said huskily.

“Never.”

A squeak came from behind them, and Sokka poked his head out of the sub.

“Break time is over.”

Aang landed next to Zuko, who reached out to touch Katara’s arm one last time before climbing on Aang’s glider.

When they took off, Katara tucked her kiss with Zuko into her heart to think about later and got to work bending herself onto Appa and doing what she had to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumbler at cynical-mystic!


	17. The Invasion - Zuko

Aang performed a complicated maneuver to drop Zuko off on the roof of one of the buildings at the top of the volcano before landing himself and closing his glider.

“It’s too quiet,” Aang said.

Looking around, there was no sign of anyone anywhere.

“Would they evacuate the entire city?” Aang asked, opening his glider again.

“No,” Zuko said. “Everyone who isn’t a noble is probably hiding in their homes.”

“Let’s get to the palace.”

When they landed in the palace grounds, both of them were surprised to meet no resistance. Zuko opened the main door to the building, and again, nothing. His stomach sank.

“They’re all probably in the bunker,” Zuko said. “Come on!”

The entrance into the bunker Zuko remembered most clearly was in the back of the throne room. They approached the light fixture and Zuko firebended into it, but the door didn’t budge. He tried again with no success.

“We’ll have to go in through the mountain,” Zuko said. “If I can’t open this door there’s no way I’ll be able to open any of the others. And we’ll probably need Toph.”

“Okay,” Aang said. “Let’s go to where we’ll start digging and I’ll go get Toph.”

Once he was alone, it was hard for Zuko to ignore the monumental change they were about to enact. He found it hard to imagine a world without his father, a world where he was Fire Lord, but he knew it was necessary. Zuko would never have a legitimate reign unless his father were dead. Or somehow permanently lost his bending, but that was impossible.

He found himself thinking about Katara’s kiss, and wondered what she was dealing with right now. He knew she could take care of herself, so he didn’t worry about her too much.

Azula’s face, her familiar sneer, appeared in his mind, and he clenched his fists. He began to hope desperately that Aang would kill his father so he could have the satisfaction of besting Azula once in his life. The one time it counted.

A whoosh of air preceded Aang’s arrival, and he’d brought Sokka as well.

“There’s definitely a giant bunker down there,” Toph said, touching the ground. “Let’s do this.”

Once they’d gotten to the level the bunker was at and Toph had metalbended the doors open, Zuko was dismayed to find he barely remembered the layout.

“Haven’t you been here before?” Sokka demanded after the third wrong door they’d tried.

“Honestly, only once,” Zuko said, turning down a side hallway. “No one has ever exactly invaded the Fire Nation capital during this war.”

“Fair,” Aang said as large double doors came into view.

“This has gotta be it,” Zuko said. “You ready?”

“Get outta my way,” Aang said, and blew the doors open.

“What?” Azula’s voice said. “You weren’t expecting me?”

Zuko, Sokka, and Toph ran into the room to find none other than Azula sitting in the seat his father should have occupied.

“I’m honestly surprised you got this far, Zuzu,” she crooned. “We only got a tour of the bunker once as children.”

“Where is he?” Zuko demanded, drawing his swords.

“Tell us, Azula,” Aang said, extending his staff. “You’re outnumbered, and by my calculations, you have no firepower.”

“I don’t need firepower to get the best of you,” Azula sneered. “I’ve been getting the best of Zuko for years without ever lifting a finger.”

Fury ignited in Zuko’s stomach, but as he stepped forward his own voice, ringing with the echoes of his childhood, cried out:

_ Azula always lies. _

“Let’s go, Aang,” Zuko said, stepping back. “She isn’t going to tell us; we’re better off looking on our own.”

“Aw, going so soon?” Azula asked as they turned away. “Don’t you want to know where our dear old uncle is?”

Zuko shook his head.

“He’s probably in prison,” he said, “and he’s more than capable of taking care of himself.”

They turned away again, but Azula’s voice attracted Aang this time.

“I’ve read the secret histories about the airbender raids,” she said. “One monk in particular was impressive, but of course he fell, as they all did. What was his name… Gyatso?”

Aang whirled, brandishing his staff at her again.

“You’re not worthy of speaking his name,” Aang growled.

Zuko put his hand on Aang’s shoulder but he shook it off.

“I just wanted to chat about someone we both knew,” Azula said, leaning back in her chair. “I didn’t know him personally, of course, but our great-grandfather kept excellent records of the airbender genocide. Apparently Gyatso took out no less than six Fire Nation soldiers before finally succumbing to the inevitable. Quite impressive, really. I wonder who he was fighting for?”

Aang shouted and jumped at Azula, but she was out of the chair before he struck it.

“Aang, don’t listen to her!” Zuko cried. “She’s just trying to distract you and waste our time!”

“Oh, Zuko, don’t you think he deserves to know the truth about how his people were slaughtered?” Azula said, sidestepping Aang once again. “I’m sure I would want to know.”

Zuko stepped forward to intervene, but he was stopped by earthbending.

He turned to see two Dai Li agents descend from the ceiling and stand between him and Aang and Azula.

“Do you like the souvenirs I brought back from Ba Sing Se?” Azula asked. “Just because they’re earthbenders doesn’t mean they aren’t useful. Their spirit is so firebender.”

“Aang, let’s go,” Zuko said, stepping back.

He looked at Aang to see the other boy’s chest heaving. Obviously he was furious that Azula was talking about someone Aang cared about so much, but Zuko had no idea how to break him out of her spell.

A wrenching noise distracted all of them, and Zuko looked to find pieces of the metal walls flying towards Azula, effectively trapping her in a metal cocoon. Before any of them could react, Aang used one of the pillars the Dai Li agents had blocked Zuko with and brought it down on Azula.

“That’s for Gyatso,” Aang said into the silence.

Zuko was stunned. What happened to not wanting to take a life?

“Let’s go,” Aang said.

Dumbly, Zuko, Sokka, and Toph followed.

“I just wanted to knock her down a peg,” Zuko heard Toph mutter. “I didn’t think he’d actually kill her.”

“Where else can we look?” Aang asked.

“I think there’s a secret door somewhere this way,” Zuko said, running his hand along the wall, trying to feel it.

The young firebender noticed Aang’s chest was still heaving.

“You okay?” Zuko asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Aang muttered. “I just couldn’t handle hearing Gyatso’s name coming out of her mouth.”

“Her voice is… was… like poison,” Zuko said.

“That’s a good way to put it.”

They continued to search the hallways for secret doors, but couldn’t find anything.

A blast of heat came from behind them, and Zuko cursed.

“Not only are we out of time, but I think they found Azula.”

“Let’s go,” Aang said.

“I’m sorry, Aang,” Zuko said as they emerged from the bunker.

“Don’t worry about it,” Aang said. “At least we took care of Azula. Let’s just get back to the others.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	18. Firebending Boot Camp

Once the Fire Nation soldiers could bend again, the tides turned against the invasion force. They decided to surrender, with the youngest members flying away on Appa. The killing blow was the airships that emerged from behind the volcano, flying over them and then bombing the submarines.

Zuko watched from a distance as Katara and Sokka hugged their father goodbye again.

“You too, Zuko,” Hakoda said once he’d released his children.

Confused, Zuko stepped forward, and was abruptly pulled into a rough hug.

“Thank you,” Hakoda said before releasing him.

Once they were all in Appa’s saddle, Aang thanked everyone for being so brave.

“You’re our greatest hope now,” Hakoda said. “Go find somewhere safe and regroup. This war isn’t over yet.”

Aang took them to the Western Air Temple, which also happened to be the first place Iroh and Zuko went to after Zuko had been banished. This memory washed over Zuko as they landed in the upside-down and in a cliff-side temple.

Katara broke him out of it by saying, “I think we should talk.”

She was addressing Aang, but Zuko knew he was involved too as Haru, the Duke, and Teo went to explore. 

Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Aang converged around the fountain.

“Aang, are you okay?” Katara asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You killed Azula.”

“I know,” Aang sighed. “Looking back on it, I probably shouldn’t have, but I did it. All I can do is pray for her soul and hope she finds some kind of peace.”

“What about Zuko?” Toph asked.

“What do you mean?” Zuko said.

“Are you okay?” Sokka asked. “She was your sister.”

“She hasn’t really been my sister for a very long time,” Zuko said softly. “Not since she became a firebender. As soon as she started firebending my father started turning her against me. I might miss the little girl she was, and the sister she could have been, but I don’t miss the girl you killed.”

Katara sat next to him and took his hand. He squeezed hers to assure her he really was alright.

“So what’s our plan now?” Katara asked the group.

“I’d say the new plan is the old one!” Sokka said. “Aang just has to master all four elements and defeat Ozai before the comet arrives.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll just do that,” Aang said, playing with a stone on the ground.

“Aang, you’re an excellent waterbender already,” Katara said.

“And you’re great at earthbending,” Toph added. “Yeah, you could use some work, but you could easily polish up your skills before the comet arrives.”

“We have plenty of time for you to improve your firebending, too,” Zuko pointed out.

“I guess,” Aang said. “Right now I just want to relax and have fun exploring the air temple.

Zuko glanced at Katara, who wasn’t looking at him.

“Fine,” he said, “but tomorrow we have to get to training.”

“Okay!” Aang said.

As he grabbed his glider and ran off after the others, Katara, Zuko, and Sokka exchanged glances.

“I hope he gets it together soon,” Sokka said. “We’re running out of time for all of these vacations.”

“I know none of us can really understand what he’s going through,” Toph said, “because it’s not like we just killed someone and have to master three elements in a few weeks, but I think Sokka’s right.”

Zuko and Katara didn’t contribute to this discourse, and after a few moments they all decided to start setting up camp.

That evening at dinner, Zuko proposed a plan.

“Aang, I thought of a way we could potentially accelerate your firebending training,” he said as they ate the soup Katara had prepared.

“Yeah?”

“The original firebenders were the dragons,” Zuko explained, “and while there aren’t any around anymore, the civilization of the first firebenders is close to here. We could go poke around the ruins and see if we learn anything.”

“That sounds cool!” Aang said. “But… what happened to the dragons? There were tons around while I was growing up.”

Zuko sighed.

“My family happened,” Zuko said. “My grandfather Azulon started the tradition of hunting down dragons for sport. Conquering one was supposedly the ultimate display of firebending strength. The last dragon was slain by my uncle before I was born.”

“But your uncle is so nice,” Toph said.

“He had a complicated past,” Zuko said, staring into his soup. “It runs in the family.”

Katara gently nudged his shoulder, and he nodded at her.

“Anyway, we could go in the morning,” Zuko said, looking at Aang. “It might not do anything, but it could. And if worst comes to worst, we get to know each other a little better.”

“Sounds good to me!”

The next afternoon, as Zuko and Aang were stuck to a grate at the top of a secret room in the middle of the Sun Warrior civilization, the young Fire Prince couldn’t help but wonder which of his life choices had led him to this moment. By the time he’d decided it was definitely letting Appa go free, Aang had started talking.

“What on earth are we going to do?”

“Think about our place in the universe?”

The two boys tried this for exactly thirty seconds before Aang just couldn’t take it anymore, shouting: “HEEEELP!!!”

“Who are you shouting to?” Zuko demanded.

“I don’t know!”

Up until this point, Zuko had been having a good time hanging out with the Avatar. The Dragon Dance they’d learned had reminded him of some of the basic forms he’d let slip, and taught him a couple new ones as well. Aang wanting to turn back once they’d discovered traps had amused him, and navigating the civilization together had been fun.

Until Zuko touched the glowing egg and made a sticky substance flood the room and adhere them to the ceiling, of course.

At least they could breathe.

“I guess we could talk,” Zuko said.

“About?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure in the months I’ve been chasing you you’ve wanted to learn something about me. Once upon a time you said you thought we could be friends, and I have to admit this whole having friends thing is new to me, so I’m not sure where to start.”

Out of the corner of his eye Zuko could see Aang’s face screwed up in concentration, trying to decide what to discuss.

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Blue,” Zuko said without even thinking.

Aang looked at him out of the corner of his eye, and Zuko would have shrugged if he could have moved.

“What? Being surrounded by red for my entire childhood doesn’t mean I like it. If you want me to be more specific, the blue of the ocean is probably my favorite.”

“The ocean changes colors depending on the time of day and where you are.”

“I know. It’s quite beautiful.”

“Fair.”

“What’s your favorite color?” Zuko asked, surprised to find himself legitimately curious.

“Probably brown,” he said.

Zuko waited for the other boy to explain.

“It’s the color of Appa’s arrow,” he continued, “and the mountains that surround the Southern Air Temple. I know I was taught to transcend reality, but honestly the color of the earth has always been very appealing to me.”

“That’s interesting.”

A silence fell between them again, and Zuko’s mind cast about for a new topic. He tried to remember what he’d done for fun before he was banished.

“What’s your favorite animal?”

“That’s a good question,” Aang said. “I like pretty much every animal I’ve encountered, except the Unagi and that serpent in the Serpent’s Pass. But I guess if I had to pick a favorite I’d probably pick flying bison. You?”

“Turtle ducks,” Zuko said. “The turtle duck pond in the palace was always a place of refuge for me growing up.”

“That sounds nice.”

“It was.”

“Do people in the Fire Nation call each other ‘hotman’?”

“Not for a couple decades now. That fad fell out of favor when someone accidentally called Fire Lord Azulon that. They were promptly banished, and everyone just stopped using it.”

“That explains a lot,” Aang said. “When we visited that first Fire Nation town I was calling people that, and they all looked at me like I was crazy.”

“They probably just thought your school had a particularly outdated etiquette book.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Zuko thought about his own school’s etiquette curriculum, and it occurred to him that it was probably quite different from the one normal Fire Nation schools had. Zuko had gone to an academy for noble boys and as such had been taught all the appropriate ways to engage in court events. Normal people didn’t need to know those things.

“Are you mad at me for killing your sister?”

The young firebender considered this carefully before answering.

“No,” Zuko said. “I could see how what she was saying affected you. I’m mostly surprised. You talked about how you didn’t want to kill my father because you value life so highly, but then you smashed my sister’s head in with a giant rock.”

“Toph didn’t cover her mouth,” Aang muttered. “I just wanted her to stop talking, and I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. I can’t bend metal, so the rational part of my brain was going to make an earth gag, but the angry part of my brain took the whole rock down on her.”

“So it was an accident?”

“More like third degree murder. A crime of passion, if you will.”

“I can understand that,” Zuko said. “Just don’t become an Avatar that kills people willy-nilly and we’ll probably be okay.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Zuko chuckled at that and the conversation lulled.

“I’m glad you’re my friend, Zuko,” Aang said thoughtfully. “Especially since I killed your sister.”

“I’m glad you’re my friend too, Aang,” Zuko said. “Especially since I’m courting the girl you love.”

Aang’s laughter echoed through the ruins.

Later the next evening, after returning to the others, Aang and Zuko recounted how the surviving Sun Warrior civilization had rescued them from the sticky substance and let them meet the two dragons whose lives Iroh had saved.

“This form is integral to the Sun Warrior technique,” Zuko explained as he and Aang showed it off.

When they finished, Sokka said, “Nice dancing!”

“It’s not a dance, it’s an ancient firebending form!” Zuko said, clenching his fists.

“Oh yeah?” Katara teased. “What’s your little form called?”

“The dancing dragon,” Zuko admitted, his fists unclenching as everyone laughed.

“I’m glad you guys had a good time,” Toph said. “Nothing beats learning about bending from the first benders.”

“Or making new friends,” Aang said, clapping Zuko on the shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	19. Sokka's Redemption

A few days later, as Zuko was trying his latest attempt at tea on the group, Sokka pulled him aside to speak with him alone.

“What’s up?” Zuko asked, setting the tea tray down and stepping away with Sokka.

“I was wondering where the Fire Nation took war prisoners,” Sokka said.

Zuko crossed his arms.

“Why?”

“I want to know where they took my dad and the others after the invasion.”

“Why?”

“Just to make me feel better!” Sokka exclaimed. “C’mon, Zuko. My mind has been going crazy ever since the invasion, wondering where my father could be and what they might be putting him through.”

Zuko sighed.

“If I had to guess, they took him to the Boiling Rock,” Zuko said. “It’s a prison in the middle of a volcano with a lake of boiling water at the top. The only way in or out is with a gondola, and it has a reputation for being inescapable.”

“Where is it?”

Zuko narrowed his eyes.

Sokka crossed his arms, mirroring Zuko.

“Please just tell me.”

“Fine. It’s between here and the Fire Nation capital. We flew right over it during our escape.”

“Thanks, Zuko,” Sokka said, faking a yawn and walking away. “I feel much better.”

“Right.”

That evening, Zuko lay in wait for Sokka in Appa’s saddle. He’d thought about recruiting Katara for this, but he’d let her sleep.

When Sokka tossed his pack over the side of Appa’s saddle and peeked his head over the edge, he yelped when he saw Zuko and fell to the ground.

Zuko crawled to the edge, looked over it at Sokka, and said, “If we’re going to do this, you need to be more quiet.”

“You can’t come with me,” Sokka said. “I have to do this alone. It’s an honor thing.”

“Try and stop me. If there’s anything I’ve learned, sometimes you need help restoring your honor.”

“What are we going to do with Appa?” Zuko asked casually.

Sokka stiffened, and Zuko wasn’t surprised to realize that Sokka hadn’t thought of this.

“Would the prison have a bison daycare?” Sokka asked meekly.

Zuko huffed.

“We can just send him back,” Zuko said, sliding down from Appa’s saddle and joining Sokka at the reins. “Katara said he responds to some verbal commands situationally. Maybe this is one of those situations.”

“What would we say?” Sokka asked. “Leave us here? Save yourself?”

“I was thinking something like, ‘Go back to Aang,’” Zuko said.

Sokka pulled the reins to redirect Appa, who had started to turn around at Zuko’s words.

“Looks like we’ve got a winner.”

After sending Appa back to the others, Zuko and Sokka decided to infiltrate the prison by dressing up as guards. At first, they thought their mission was a bust because Sokka’s father wasn’t there, but they discovered Suki, who was a Kyoshi Warrior whose village Zuko was ashamed to be reminded that he’d burned down. They came up with an escape plan, but Sokka overheard some of the guards saying there was a new shipment of prisoners coming the next day, so they decided to stay. Zuko, in an attempt to keep Sokka from being found out, let himself be captured, and the warden decided he was a special prisoner. When Zuko, Sokka, and Suki spied on the incoming prisoners, Sokka was relieved to find his dad among them, so they hatched a new escape plan involving the gondola and kidnapping the warden.

Their plan went off without a hitch, and they hijacked the warden’s personal airship to get back to the others. They’d sprung another inmate, Chit Sang, because he’d helped them start the riot, and his presence was a good thing because the airship needed a decently sized crew.

The look on Aang and Katara’s faces was priceless to Zuko as they halted the airship next to the terrace they’d been camping on.

“I thought you guys went to get meat,” Katara said, looking at Zuko, her eyebrows raised.

“We did,” Sokka said. “We got the best meat of all. The meat of fatherhood and friendship.”

Hakoda and Suki disembarked with Chit Sang behind them, and Katara ran to hug her father.

“I don’t understand,” she said, tears in her eyes. “Where did you guys go?”

“Oh, you know,” Zuko said, scratching the back of his head. “Just the most secure Fire Nation prison ever. We kind of broke its ‘zero escapes’ record.”

Katara laughed. 

“I can’t believe you guys.”

Sokka grinned at Zuko, and Zuko smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	20. The Weirdest Date Ever

The next few days were relatively relaxed. Aang began meditating every morning, getting up at the same time as Zuko, in an attempt to figure out exactly how he’d lost it enough to actually kill Azula and get control of that part of himself. Zuko spent the time training and meditating in a way himself, trying to picture how getting the throne would look with Azula out of the way. Not having the threat of her potentially finding them looming over them was different, and while Zuko was relieved, he hadn’t been lying about missing the person his sister could have been. He contented himself with acknowledging the fact he never knew that person because she didn’t exist, and eventually managed to stop thinking about it.

Eventually, Hakoda decided he should take the others who had escaped from the invasion back to their homes, while he himself would travel to the South Pole to assist with rebuilding while they waited for the comet. Zuko knew Katara and Sokka were sad to see their father go yet again, and had to admit he was a bit sad himself. It was refreshing having a parental authority to help make decisions. The weight of the world had been lifted from them for a little while.

“I’ll see all of you again soon,” Hakoda told Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Aang, and Suki before he and the others left. “You guys need to regroup and get training.”

“You’re right,” Katara said. “We love you, Dad.”

“I love you guys too,” Hakoda said, hugging Katara and Sokka.

With that, he and the others were gone, leaving the six of them to look at each other and try to decide what to do next.

“For now, let’s just train,” Zuko suggested.

That evening, after dinner, Katara approached him and motioned for him to follow her. They went to the room she’d claimed in the air temple and she shut the door behind them. Zuko sat on her bed and waited for her to speak.

“I’d like you to help me find the man who killed my mother,” she said.

“Of course. What do you remember about that day? Do you remember anything that could help us determine who attacked your village?”

“No,” Katara admitted, “but Sokka might.”

After getting the necessary information from Sokka and determining it was, in fact, the Southern Raiders who had attacked the Water Tribe that day, Zuko and Katara approached Aang.

“We need to borrow Appa,” Katara said, her pack slung over her shoulder.

“Is it your turn for a life-changing field trip with Zuko?” Aang teased.

“Yes.”

“Oh,” Aang said. “Where are you going?”

“Zuko is going to take me to the man who murdered my mother.”

“Whoa,” the young airbender said. “What are you going to do when you find him?”

“Give him what he deserves.”

“Katara,” Aang said, “I know after what happened during the invasion I’m not one to talk, but I really want you to consider forgiving this man. I know he killed your mother, and that’s a horrible thing, but it might not have been his fault. He could have just been following orders.”

“You’re right, Aang, you’re not one to talk. And it doesn’t matter whether he was following orders. If an order is wrong, it shouldn’t be followed.”

Aang bowed his head.

“I’m not going to stop you,” he said. “Just think about what I said.”

“I will, Aang,” Katara said, softening a bit. “Thank you.”

Zuko and Katara didn’t talk much as they flew except for him to tell her where they needed to go to find the message outpost where the information they needed was. He was glad for the time to reflect. He knew Aang meant well, and the best thing for Katara to do might very well be to forgive this man, but Zuko wasn’t a stranger to anger. It had taken him a long time to properly direct his anger at his father, and he wasn’t about to forgive him to make himself feel better. Allowing himself to hate his father and not try to love him in spite of every awful thing he did was what made Zuko feel better and allowed him to begin to heal.

When they got to the Southern Raiders, they were dismayed to find out that the leader wasn’t the man who killed Katara’s mother. Zuko threw him against the wall of the cabin and demanded he tell them where the previous leader was. The man told them where the man they were looking for had retired to, and again they were off.

When it came down to it, Katara couldn’t kill him. She took her anger out on him, and then let it go. Zuko was impressed at the display of her waterbending prowess, as well as her strength in not killing the man. He wondered what it felt like knowing that her mother had died protecting her, but he didn’t have the heart to ask her. Knowing his own mother had left to keep him safe didn’t make the sting any less painful.

As they flew back, Zuko joined Katara at the reins.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “Thank you for doing this. I really needed it.”

“You’re more than welcome.”

She put her head on his shoulder, and he put his arm around her and took the reins in one hand. As she snuggled into him, his heart started racing.

“We should probably find a place to land and rest,” Katara said eventually. “Appa’s been flying hard for the past few days, and I need to recuperate a bit before seeing the others.”

Zuko nodded and started looking for a place to land.

They found a small valley with a waterfall and pond, as well as a decently sized grassy area that would fit all three of them. They hadn’t brought a tent, so they made a makeshift bed out of the blankets they’d bought. The two of them didn’t bother sleeping apart, as there was no one but Appa around and they doubted he would mind.

“What are you thinking about?”

Katara’s voice broke into his thoughts and scrambled them completely. He wrapped his arms around her tighter and she buried her face in his chest.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “You distracted me.”

“Sorry. I’m just finding it hard to fall asleep.”

“Do you want me to tell you a story?”

“What stories do you know?”

“I could tell you about my cousin Lu Ten,” Zuko suggested.

“I didn’t know you had a cousin.”

So Zuko told her about his cousin and how he’d basically been an older brother to him. How Iroh had always treated Zuko like one of his own, and Lu Ten and he had been very close. He told Katara what it had felt like to hear about Lu Ten’s death after having had so much fun together as kids. He told her about Iroh’s depression, and how hard it had been to pull him out of it. He ended up telling her about all of the silly things Iroh did while Zuko was banished to take their minds off things, and how much he missed his uncle.

Before he knew it, Katara was snoring gently against his chest and his own eyes were getting heavy enough to sleep.

“I’m glad you were able to forgive him, Katara,” Aang said once they’d returned and told the others what had happened.

“I didn’t, though,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him. But I am ready to let go of my anger at him.”

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	21. A Safe Place to Hide

Eventually they all decided they needed a more permanent base for Aang to be able to train before he faced the Fire Lord. Zuko had the idea for them to go to Ember Island and use his father’s vacation home. It was the absolute last place anyone would think to look for them, and no one would find them because it had its own private beaches and was secluded from the rest of the island.

Staring into the face of his younger self several hours later, however, made Zuko wonder if this had been the best idea.

The first thing he’d seen when Toph had managed to get the door unlocked and open was a portrait of his family that had been done back when they’d used to come to Ember Island every summer. Entranced, Zuko had let his bag fall to the floor in the hallway and approached the portrait as the rest of them bustled about to choose their rooms.

Zuko’s eyes ran over his own face, then his sister’s, then his father’s, before finally landing on his mother. Flashes of memory came to him: playing on the beach with Iroh and Lu Ten, his mother teaching him and Azula how to swim, his father and uncle playing music for them while they danced around a campfire. Once upon a time, his father hadn’t been too bad.

A sharp pain ran through Zuko’s chest and he winced. He wanted to fall to his knees and let the memories wash over him, and it took every ounce of strength he had to stay upright. He lifted his hand to touch the painting. Its surface was rough and smooth under his fingers, much like his childhood, and Zuko felt a sudden urge to rip the work off the wall.

“Zuko?”

Katara’s voice sliced through his thoughts, bringing him fully back to the present. Not dropping his hand, he turned towards her. She was wearing her Fire Nation clothes again, and a worried expression.

She came to stand next to him and look at the painting herself.

“Your mother was beautiful,” she said softly.

Zuko looked up at her again, and the memory of the night she left superimposed itself on the painting. He winced again and dropped his hand.

“Yes,” he said. “A beautiful person in a horrific situation.”

Katara nodded, and Zuko knew she had no idea what to say. He didn’t blame her. What do you say to someone whose family was ripped apart by his father’s greed and pride?

“Do you want to get rid of the painting?”

Zuko nodded.

“How?”

Considering this for a moment, Zuko replied, “I think I’d like to burn it. It’ll be like a funeral.”

“Alright.”

Katara reached up and lifted the painting off its hook.

“Do you want the others there?”

Zuko shook his head, and the two of them headed to the courtyard alone.

Katara watched the faces of Zuko’s family disintegrate before her and reached out to take his hand. She would not leave him alone with this.

His fingers tightened around hers and he took a deep breath.

“Thank you, Katara.”

“We don’t have to stay here.”

“It’s the most logical choice,” Zuko said. “And that’s the only picture of my family. Everything else here is heirlooms and ancient history.”

Katara nodded.

“Have you picked your room yet?”

She looked up at him and found herself looking into his eyes.

“Yeah. I’ll show you.”

Zuko was amused to find that Katara had chosen the room that had once been his. When he shared this information, she agreed that it was an amusing coincidence and asked him if he’d rather have it, but he declined. He’d rather stay in one of the guest rooms. As he walked around the room while she unpacked, he tried to remember something about it, but nothing came to him other than the fact it had once been his.

“I think we should all do something together this evening,” Katara said as she finished.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Oh, I don’t know. We could try to think of a game to play.”

A knock on the doorframe of the open door made both of them turn.

“Hey,” Suki said. “Zuko, I was wondering if your sister had any clothes here? I’m tired of wearing my old prison clothes.”

“We were really young the last time we came,” Zuko said, “so I really doubt anything here that was Azula’s would fit you. We could check the Fire Lady’s apartments. There might be something there that would work.”

Zuko escorted the two young women to the rooms that had housed every Fire Lady there’d been since the house had been built, and went off to see what Aang and Sokka were doing.

He found them in the courtyard playing air, water, earth, and fire.

“Hey,” he said, sitting on the step above them. “We should all do something together tonight. Katara suggested a game, but I don’t know any for more than two people.”

“I saw a net down at the beach when we were looking around,” Sokka said. “What would that be for?”

“Oh!” Zuko said, sitting up straight. “I totally forgot about Kuai ball! It’s a game where you toss a ball back and forth over the net. You score points by getting the ball to land on the ground on the opponent’s side but inside the area of the field. That’d be perfect for all of us to play.”

“Sounds fun!” Aang said.

“Suki!” Sokka exclaimed.

Aang and Zuko turned to see Katara, Toph, and Suki entering the courtyard. Suki had found some clothes in the Fire Lady’s apartments, and even Zuko could tell she felt much better about herself.

“So, what are you dorks talking about?” Toph asked.

“Zuko suggested a game we could all play together,” Aang said. “It’s called Kuai ball!”

“I’m not sure whether we have a ball here, though,” Zuko admitted.

“How about we have a pre-game game!” Sokka suggested. “The first person who can find the ball in this house gets to be the captain of the first team!”

“How do we decide who the second captain is?” Suki asked.

“The person who finds the ball chooses!”

Everyone decided this was reasonable, so Zuko drew a picture of the ball for them and they were off.

Toph was the first person to find the ball, deflated and half-buried in the sand on the edge of the beach. Aang managed to air it up and Zuko used firebending to seal up the hole it had in it and they were ready to go.

“Who do you want to be the other captain?” Aang asked Toph, testing the ball by kicking it up in the air with his feet to make sure it wouldn’t go flat again.

“Suki,” Toph said.

“Cool!”

“And I want Sokka on my team,” Toph said.

Sokka went to stand by Toph, rubbing his hands together.

“This is gonna be good!”

Suki ended up choosing Katara and Aang, and Toph chose Zuko. Zuko marked out the ring for them and explained the rules: if the ball leaves the ring the other team gets it, you score points by making the ball land in the ring on the other team’s side, and the first team to get ten points wins.

“How can we hit the ball?” Katara asked.

“Hands or feet. Also, no bending is allowed. Except for Toph, of course, but only to see.”

Katara nodded while Aang sighed.

“It’s going to be so hard not to airbend,” he said as he took their places.

While the game was intense and the competition turned out to be pretty fierce even without bending, Toph’s team ended up winning at the last moment when Zuko managed to hit the ball in between Katara and Suki, who had accidentally ended up too far apart to properly cover their side.

“That was a great game,” Zuko said as they all lounged in the courtyard afterwards. “Usually there are four people per team, though.”

“If only I could have airbended,” Aang moaned.

“I thought it was fun to do something that didn’t require bending,” Suki said from where she and Sokka were sitting almost on top of each other. “I’m not saying Sokka and I can’t hold our own during a fight, but it was interesting to see how you guys figured out how to accomplish physical activity without it.”

“It was harder than I thought it would be for me,” Toph said. “I guess when I’m earthbending and someone throws a rock at me, I can still kind of sense where the rock is in the air in addition to considering how it was thrown. With this game all I had was the how it was thrown part.”

“I didn’t even consider that,” Aang said thoughtfully. “Maybe we can play again and I can play blindfolded to practice seismic sense!”

“I’m sure there will be time for at least one more game,” Katara said.

After dinner that evening, Zuko found himself hanging out in Katara’s room. She was laying on the bed on her stomach reading one of the books that was kept in the vacation home and he was sitting in one of the chairs polishing his dual swords. Hanging out without interacting with each other was a new thing, and Zuko found he quite enjoyed it.

While he worked on his swords, Zuko thought about the days ahead. The comet would arrive in less than a week and Zuko couldn’t help but wonder whether Aang was ready. For the past few weeks he’d been training relentlessly with water, earth, fire, and air, learning new techniques and brushing up on old ones. He was the fastest learner Zuko had ever seen, faster than even Azula. But Zuko couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d reacted to killing Azula. Would Aang be able to do the same to his father in cold blood?

Katara shifting her position distracted Zuko and he watched out of the corner of his eye as she turned onto her back, holding the book in the air and letting her hair flow over the side of the bed.

This caused Zuko’s thoughts to turn to what the coming days meant for the two of them. In less than a week, if all went well, the war would be over and everything would be different. He would be Fire Lord. Aang would be the fully realized Avatar the world needs to help it heal from 100 years of war. Sokka and Suki would probably go back to the Southern Water Tribe if they decided to be together, and Toph would probably go back to the Earth Kingdom.

This left Katara. Despite their relationship, and what they’d talked about, he wondered if she would really want to stay with him after the war. He didn’t want to marry her immediately, especially because she wasn’t of age in either of their cultures yet, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be without her for two years either. Perhaps it would be better for him to try to establish himself as Fire Lord, maybe with his uncle as an advisor, and give Katara a few years to do what she needed to do.

“What are you thinking about?”

Zuko’s head snapped up. Katara wasn’t looking at him; she’d dropped the book onto her stomach and was staring at the ceiling.

“What we’re all going to do after the war,” Zuko said, sheathing his swords and putting his polishing kit away.

“Yeah? How you’re going to be Fire Lord, Sokka and Suki will probably go home with Dad, Aang will travel the world doing Avatar stuff, Toph will probably go to the Earth Kingdom and start a metalbending school, and I’ll probably stay with you but am not really sure?”

“That’s basically it, yeah.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what happens after the comet comes,” Katara said, “but I can’t get rid of this worry that something will go horribly wrong.

“Okay, let’s pretend everything goes according to plan,” he said. “Aang successfully defeats my father. What do you do?”

Katara had been avoiding this question for several reasons, including the one she’d given Zuko already. Another reason was because she didn’t want to disappoint any of the people she cared about by choosing between her family and Zuko. She’d also pretty much promised Zuko she’d go with him, but now she wasn’t sure what she wanted.

“I’ve considered a few options,” she stalled. “Like staying with you. Going home. Sticking with Aang and helping him figure out all the Avatar stuff. Traveling by myself for a while.”

She couldn’t see Zuko, so she had no idea what he was doing and couldn’t tell whether he was about to respond.

“What do you want, Katara?”

Up to this point, the path forward had been pretty clear to Katara. Go after Zuko’s ship and get Aang back. Take him to the North Pole so they could both learn waterbending. Go to the Earth Kingdom so he could find an earthbending teacher. Go to Ba Sing Se to talk to the Earth King and get Appa back. The invasion. And now, helping Aang prepare to fight Fire Lord Ozai before the comet comes.

After that, nothing really existed in Katara’s head. She’d thought about staying with Zuko because she didn’t want to be away from him, but that didn’t really feel real in her mind.

So she thought about what she wanted from life in general.

If she were being honest with herself, she’d always wanted more than meeting a nice boy from another tribe and settling down, doing the same old chores and interacting with the same old people. Traveling with Aang had been the best decision she’d ever made and she was loath to give that up so soon. She supposed she wanted to travel more, and staying with Aang was the best way to do that. She could also go by herself. Or she could go home and become an ambassador for the Southern Water Tribe, if upon their rebuilding they decided they needed such a thing.

Or she could stick with Zuko and travel with him, as he would no doubt need to do once he became Fire Lord. She thought about getting to help him heal his country and had to admit it was tempting.

Katara realized she could get what she wanted two ways: stick with Zuko, or travel with Aang. Going home would be nice, but it could be accomplished with either of the other two paths as well.

“Stay with you or go with Aang,” she said more to herself than to Zuko.

“You know what I want.”

She moved the book aside and rolled over so she could look at him. He was regarding her with the type of forced casualty that let her know he was internally freaking out. She desperately wished she could see what was going on in his head.

“Tell me anyway.”

Zuko moved closer to her, dropping from his chair to the floor and sitting in front of her; close enough she could lean forward and kiss him if she wanted to, but far enough away to leave the decision with her.

“I want you by my side,” he said, his voice low. “I want to show you the good things about the Fire Nation, and get your opinions on how we can restore our honor. I don’t want to face the councils and the meetings and the inevitable backlash without my best friend.”

The blood rushed to Katara’s cheeks, and she wondered why his proclamation of friendship made her blush. She supposed she’d never considered herself his best friend before. Now that she thought about it, he was probably hers too.

“But if you want to go with Aang, or even go home, or do something completely different, I’d wait a thousand years for you, Katara.”

Every part of Katara’s body tingled at his words and the way he said them.

“And if I did decide to do something else and decided I didn’t want to be with you anymore?”

“Your happiness means more to me than anything,” he said. “I’d come to your wedding with a smile on my face and wish you the best.”

Katara nodded and found herself getting lost in his amber eyes. Everything about him was so intense, and it blew her away more than she’d expected. She found herself leaning closer to him and kissing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	22. The Final Countdown

While the friends decided to take a break from their training to see a play about their adventures that was horribly inaccurate, most of their time was spent training. Aang had progressed quite quickly through firebending and earthbending, and Katara had even dubbed him a master at waterbending. They all found themselves dealing with the problem Aang couldn’t seem to solve, though: How could he win without killing the Fire Lord?

“Azula was a mistake,” Aang asserted for what felt to Zuko like the millionth time.

“If you don’t kill the Fire Lord, Zuko won’t be respected as the new leader,” Sokka pointed out. “Anyone who supports Ozai would do everything in their power to get him out of prison and back on the throne.”

“I wonder if there’s a way I could, I don’t know… take away his bending?”

“Would that be enough for him to lose credibility as Fire Lord?” Toph asked Zuko.

“Traditionally the Fire Lord has always been a firebender,” he replied. “My father always told me he thought about killing me when I was born because he didn’t think I was a bender. But it isn’t a requirement. If there was a way to take away his bending, though, he’d probably lose all will to be Fire Lord because so much of his identity is his ability to use his bending against others.”

“Horrifying story about Zuko’s past aside,” Sokka said with a grimace at the other boy that Zuko returned with a shrug, “I don’t know of any way someone could have their bending removed except for chi-blocking.”

“That wouldn’t be permanent,” Katara pointed out.

“I don’t know what the answer is,” Aang said, “but I can’t kill him. I won’t. Azula was enough.”

Aang stormed off, more frustrated than angry, and the rest of them just let him go.

“Let’s all get some sleep,” Sokka said. “We can talk about this more in the morning.”

The next morning, Katara was alarmed to find Aang was nowhere to be found. The only thing left of him was his glider, his pack, and Appa. Momo was missing as well. She grabbed the glider from his room and ran to the courtyard to find the others.

“Aang is gone!” she cried. “Momo is too.”

“Where could they have gone?” Suki asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe he’s on a spirit world journey,” Sokka suggested.

“Wouldn’t his body still be here?” Zuko asked.

“Let’s walk around the area and see if we can find his body, or any evidence of where they are,” Toph suggested.

“Right,” Sokka said in his take-charge voice. “I’ll look with Suki, Katara you take Appa and try to get an aerial view, and Zuko--”

“I’ll go with him!” Toph announced, grabbing Zuko’s arm.

Everyone stared at her, which she must have sensed because she said:

“What? Everyone else got to have a life-changing field trip with Zuko. Now it’s my turn.”

Katara shook her head, unable to contain a grin at the confused look on Zuko’s face.

“We’ll meet back here in an hour,” Sokka said.

As Toph filled him in on the many times she’d run away from home, Zuko realized something. With Aang, Katara, and Sokka, there had been a specific problem he’d been able to fix that had a solution the journey to which had caused them to become closer. With Toph, there was nothing he could suggest to help her with her problems with her parents that she and Katara hadn’t already tried. After the scamming one of the small towns debacle, Katara had helped Toph write a letter to her parents, and as far as Zuko knew they hadn’t responded.

“Toph, I don’t think you’re going to be able to fix your relationship with your parents,” he said, cutting her off. “It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. You don’t fit into their view of the world and they refuse to accept it. Either you accept that about them and deal with them in that framework, or you don’t and you let it go.”

“Hmm,” Toph said. “That makes sense. I guess I’ll have to start thinking about it like that.”

“Good. Now, let’s focus on finding Aang.”

An hour later, they all convened on the beach and realized they were no closer to finding Aang than when they started.

“It’s hopeless,” Sokka said, throwing himself to the ground. “Suki and I found footprints leading to the water, but he’s nowhere to be found.”

They sat in a contemplative silence for a few moments before Zuko looked up and realized everyone was looking at him.

“What?” he demanded. “I didn’t do anything to him!”

“No, but you are the expert on tracking Aang,” Katara pointed out.

Zuko threw himself down next to Sokka and put his head in his hands, thinking about the best way to go about finding Aang. If Aang wasn’t on the island, maybe he’d gone somewhere else for whatever reason. Maybe to contact Roku to ask for advice, or his other past lives. But he had to be somewhere.

The young prince sat up as he realized where they needed to go.

“Everyone, let’s pack up the essentials for battle and get going,” he said, getting to his feet. “This hunt for Aang is going to run us right up until the comet arrives, and we need to be ready for anything.”

Once everyone was packed and ready, Sokka and Katara having changed back into their Water Tribe gear and Toph into her Earth Kingdom clothes, Zuko took Appa’s reins and they headed towards the Earth Kingdom.

Katara slid down to sit with Zuko.

“Why are we going to the Earth Kingdom?”

“Remember that time at the convent when I was chasing you guys and there was that woman with the giant creature that used its tongue to smell?”

“Yes.”

“She’s the only one who can help us find Aang.”

Katara nodded and settled in next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Zuko threw open the door to the tavern, the others behind him, just in time to see June fighting a man three times her size. She managed to throw her drink in the air, throw him, and catch her drink before it fell. As they approached her, he had to admit it was a pretty impressive move.

“Oh, if it isn’t the angry prince boy,” June said, glancing at them out of the corner of her eye. “I’m glad you and your girlfriend worked things out.”

“This isn’t about that,” Zuko said. “We need your help finding the Avatar.”

“Doesn’t really sound like fun.”

“Does the end of the world sound like more fun?” Zuko demanded.

Katara offered June’s shirshu Aang’s staff to smell, but it couldn’t find him. While the thought of Aang simply having ceased to exist was more comforting than him being dead, they still needed help, so Zuko offered his uncle’s sandal. One sniff later, the group of friends was scrambling onto Appa to follow June.

“Why did she think I was your girlfriend?” Katara asked Zuko, both of them once again at Appa’s reins.

“It’s because I was using your mother’s necklace to track you.”

Katara nodded.

June left them at the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, and they decided to camp there for the night. In the middle of the night, they were awoken by some of the masters of their craft they’d met along the way: Piandao, Pakku, Jeong Jeong, and King Bumi. They took them to what Bumi affectionately called, “Old People Camp,” and Piandao pointed Zuko towards his uncle’s tent.

Zuko stayed outside Iroh’s tent for the rest of the night by himself.

When Iroh emerged early the next morning, his eyes fell on Zuko.

“Come here,” he said, opening his arms.

Zuko embraced his uncle, relieved he was okay.

Iroh told them about how he’d been imprisoned in the Fire Nation but managed to escape on the day of the eclipse. He also told them about Ozai’s plan to burn down the Earth Kingdom with the power of the comet and where they were expected to pass over by airship.

“Zuko, you must go to Capital City,” Iroh finished, “and challenge Azula. Your father has declared himself Phoenix King, so there is no Fire Lord right now. You must go, defeat her, and take your rightful place on the throne. Only you can help the Fire Nation find the right path and restore its honor.”

Zuko and Katara glanced at each other.

“Azula’s dead, uncle,” he said.

“What?!”

“Aang killed her during the invasion,” Katara explained.

Iroh was speechless for a few moments.

“I don’t understand why Ozai would have declared himself Phoenix King,” he said eventually. “With no one to lead the Fire Nation, it will fall apart.”

“Who would become Fire Lord if the royal family died?” Sokka asked.

After considering this for a moment, Iroh said, “One of the nobles I suppose, although I have no idea who’s in which position anymore. Your father would have picked someone who’s easy to control.”

“I’ll go face them then,” Zuko said decisively.

“I’ll go with you,” Katara said.

“What about us?” Suki asked Iroh. “What are our destinies today?”

Iroh shrugged and let them think about it.

“We should go head off the airships,” Sokka said decisively. “That way, we can do some damage and be right there in case Aang needs us.”

Iroh nodded approvingly.

Once they finished their meal, Sokka, Suki, and Toph left on an eel hound, while Zuko and Katara took Appa.

“This is it,” Zuko said, looking towards where the Fire Nation lay ahead of them. “This is what it comes down to. Another battle for power.”

“It’s more than that, Zuko,” Katara said, nudging him with her shoulder. “It’s fighting for what’s right for your country. Something you’ve always been doing.”

“Thanks, Katara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	23. The New Fire Lord

They landed in the palace courtyard just in time to interrupt the last person he would have ever thought of being crowned Fire Lord: Mai, one of Azula’s friends.

“Oh thank goodness,” she said as soon as they landed, waving the Fire Sage holding the crown away. “I didn’t want to do this stupid job anyway.”

“Mai?” Zuko asked, sliding off of Appa with Katara right on his heels. “Why you?”

“With my parents in Omashu, I’m the highest ranked noble in town,” she said, getting up from where she’d been kneeling to accept the crown. “But since you’re the Fire Lord’s son, this is your gig. I’m going home.”

Zuko and Katara watched in amazement as Mai left.

He turned to the Fire Sages, who were watching after her in amazement as well.

“Well?” he said, walking towards them and reaching up to put his hair in a top knot. “What are you waiting for? I’m the only member of the royal family left.”

With a shrug, the Fire Sage let Zuko kneel and accept the crown of the Fire Lord.

The Fire Sages decided a proper coronation party was necessary after they received news that Phoenix King Ozai had been defeated by the Avatar, so Zuko and his friends stayed in the palace while they planned the party. The servants were happy to be back, and found Katara to be quite pleasant.

“You’re a hit with the servants,” Zuko said the morning of the coronation party as Katara came in to help him finish changing.

“I’m glad to hear it,” she said as she straightened out his robe where it hung on a mannequin. “They’re all quite sweet and helpful.”

“So,” Zuko said as she took the robe from the mannequin and approached him with it. “I’d like us to talk about something.”

“What’s that?” she asked as she held the robe open and he stepped into it.

“I was wondering what you think would be the best way of us going about this whole you and me thing,” he said as she deftly tied the robe and straightened out the collar and shoulder piece. “Should we do it in a super official capacity where I petition your father with a proposal, should I carve you a new necklace? This whole merging of cultures offers a lot of potential.”

“Hmm,” Katara said thoughtfully as a servant came in to do Zuko’s hair. “I don’t see why we couldn’t do both. You could petition my father and carve me a necklace.”

“Petitions are usually accompanied by some sort of compensation,” Zuko said. “Is there anything your father would want?”

“That’s an interesting, sexist tradition,” Katara said coolly. “I suppose you could offer some sort of political advantage. Maybe backing him for High Chief? Although I’m not sure how influential the new Fire Lord will be in helping to pick the new world leaders.”

“I could always just ask,” Zuko said. “You know, just for his approval .And then a general promise of helping him with anything I’m able to as his son-in-law.”

“That sounds like a nice compromise,” she said. “It makes me feel much less like I’m some sort of property.”

“Good. I don’t want you to feel that way at all.”

As Katara left to meet their friends while Zuko finished getting ready, he wondered if his mother had ever felt like property.

Katara and Sokka pushed through the crowd of Water Tribe members, searching for their father. Finally Katara spotted him talking to Bato.

“Dad!” she called.

Their dad turned and opened his arms for them.

“I am the proudest father in the whole world,” he said as he hugged them. “Your mother would be proud too.”

Katara reached for her mother’s necklace and fought back tears.

“I think this is about to start,” Sokka said, gesturing to the front steps of the palace.

Katara turned to see Zuko and Aang step out. Zuko’s speech about reuniting the world and starting an era of peace and love was quite moving, and then he was Fire Lord. Officially.

She glanced at her father and wondered if she should prepare him for Zuko talking to him, but decided against it. If Zuko really wanted to marry her he would make it happen.

It was then that Katara remembered she wasn’t old enough to be betrothed yet, and wondered how Zuko was going to deal with that problem. She supposed they could simply be betrothed for two years and then marry when she turns sixteen, but that sort of arrangement was typically between world leaders.

Which Zuko was, of course, but her father wasn’t.

As the crowd dispersed to attend the coronation party, Katara pushed those thoughts out of her mind.

After being announced at the coronation party, Zuko was immediately besieged by senior officials wondering who would be appointed to his cabinet. Eventually he managed to shake them off by assuring them he will be reviewing all of their political records in order to choose the candidates he thought would be most helpful to him, and as he walked away he knew that none of them would probably make the cut. Everything depended on where their loyalties lay. Would they try to usurp him and turn him into a figurehead, or actually help him lead?

His thoughts weighed heavy on him as he searched for his friends.

“Zuko!” Sokka’s voice rang out through the crowd.

Zuko spotted all of them sitting at a table on the edge of the dance floor. He sat next to Katara, who smiled at him, making his heart warm.

“How are you guys enjoying the festivities?” Zuko asked.

“The food is amazing!” Sokka gushed. “And right now I really wish I could dance.”

“I’m glad you can’t,” Suki teased. “I’d worry about you stepping on my feet!”

“I think we should talk about next steps,” Aang said.

“C’mon, Aang, it’s a party!” Toph said. “Lighten up! This is also kind of our post-war celebration, so celebrate!”

“I can’t,” Aang said. “There’s too much to do. Iroh finally tracked down the Earth King, and I’m needed in Ba Sing Se at the end of the week to help with organizing the rebuilding.”

“Dad, Suki, and I are going to the Southern Water Tribe after this,” Sokka said. “The North has really been helpful in rebuilding Harbor City and locating all the remote tribes. Did you know there are two little waterbenders from one of them? Pakku discovered them before he left. They’re very young, so you were probably the only waterbender in the South for about seven years.”

Zuko glanced at Katara, who seemed to be in shock.

Before Katara could say anything, Toph interjected with, “I’m going to start a school for metalbending in Omashu. Bumi wants to try and learn, and it’s pretty close to where my parents live. I’m hoping to meet with them again and hopefully figure things out.”

“I need to get to work picking members of my council,” Zuko said. “I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

All of them turned to Katara, who still hadn’t said anything. She looked at Zuko and grabbed his sleeve.

“Can we talk?”

They left the others and made their way to a secluded corner, a sense of dread forming in his stomach as she rubbed her arm. One of his breathing exercises helped calm him down, but he still dreaded whatever she was going to say.

“I want to stay with you,” she said, “I do, but there are other Southern waterbenders. I have to meet them. I want to help train them. I need this, Zuko.”

He nodded, unable to speak.

“We can write,” she said, her voice desperate. “I can help with anything that comes up via letters.”

Zuko shook his head.

“Katara, don’t worry about me,” he said somberly. “I’ll be fine. Aang took my father’s bending, so he isn’t a problem anymore. Iroh will be here for the first few months to help me out. The servants might miss you, but they’ll be fine too.”

“Won’t you miss me?”

“Of course,” Zuko said, reaching out and putting a hand on her arm. “But like I’ve already told you, I’ll wait for you. I want you to be happy, and if this will make you happy, then go. Be a mentor for those little kids. I want to see the South have many more waterbenders than it ever did before, and of course you’re necessary for making that happen.”

Katara nodded slowly.

“What does this mean for us?”

“If you still want to be with me in a year or two, we can talk about it then,” Zuko said. “I won’t say anything to your father until then. And like you said, we can write the entire time. I’ll get you your own messenger hawk before you leave so we don’t have to wait for ships.”

Katara surprised him by throwing her arms around him.

“I love you, Zuko.”

Everything that had started going cold inside of him turned warm, and he held her as tightly as he could, wishing desperately she didn’t have to leave.

But it was for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	24. The Invitation - One Year Later

The past year had been rough for Zuko. Iroh had helped him choose a good council, but even the best council in the world couldn’t have imagined they would have to deal with an entire movement devoted to putting his father back in power. Zuko had developed informational campaigns releasing the truth about what happened during the war, and a small group of his people refused to let go of the prejudices and resentments his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had spent 100 years building and nursing. For the most part the Fire Nation citizens were accepting of Zuko’s leadership as many of them had been oppressed during the war, but there’s always one group of people that refuses change.

For Katara, the past year had been amazing. Not only were there the two waterbending children Pakku had originally discovered, there were three more scattered throughout the remote tribes. She’d spent the past year teaching the new generation of Southern waterbenders as she was the only one who could really teach them their heritage. Or whatever bastardized version of it Hama had left her with. Pakku helped, of course, but his time was mostly taken up by helping rebuild and reestablish the Council of Elders.

Sokka and Suki were betrothed. Suki loved being in the Southern Water Tribe, and had helped train the young children who couldn’t bend to defend themselves. Sokka worked closely with Hakoda and Pakku to help reestablish the Council of Elders and design a new layout for Harbor City, the new hub of the Southern Water Tribe. He also designed a messaging system that would allow the remote tribes to communicate with the new capital more effectively.

Toph’s school in Omashu had grown to three students, not including King Bumi as he had been unable to get a hang of metalbending. She still had his unwavering support, and he helped her find potential students all across the Earth Kingdom. Her parents still hadn’t contacted her, which hurt her, but she decided to seek them out herself once she came of age and there wasn’t anything they could do to her anymore.

Now, all of them were gathering in Ba Sing Se to celebrate Iroh reopening his tea shop and speak with the Earth King about the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. Aang had a plan for how to proceed, but he wanted the support of his friends before he presented it to the king. He and Zuko had corresponded quite regularly about it and they both felt it was a completely solid and quite reasonable plan.

When Katara received Aang’s invitation to join the Colony Summit, as he’d dubbed it, a sense of dread filled her stomach. She knew Zuko would be there, and she had no idea how to feel about that.

When she’d left the Fire Nation, Zuko had given her a messenger hawk so they could keep in touch, but she’d gotten so busy she forgot to write for a while. After a few months, she’d decided that if he’d wanted to write he would have written.

As she packed for the trip, she was finally forced to confront the possibility she’d avoided writing to Zuko herself because she felt guilty about leaving him alone. Right after the coronation party all of them had gone their separate ways, leaving Zuko to face being Fire Lord with only Iroh to help him. While she was sure having Iroh had been a great help to Zuko, she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d felt after being so abruptly by himself. And in charge of an entire country, no less.

Aang came to pick them up a week after his invitation arrived. Katara, Suki, and Sokka climbed onto Appa and waved goodbye to Hakoda and Katara’s students who had come to see them off. Once they were in the air, Aang started talking.

“It feels like it’s been forever since I saw you guys last,” he said. “How have you been doing? What have you been up to?”

Sokka immediately began regaling Aang with stories about the new capital of the Southern Water Tribe and his and Suki’s contributions to it while Katara sat in the back of Appa’s saddle with her legs pulled to her chest, thinking about Zuko.

“What’s up?” Suki asked, scooting to sit closer to her.

“I’m just kind of worried,” Katara admitted.

“About what?”

“Zuko never wrote to me, and I got so involved in teaching and tribe politics that I never got around to writing to him. I’m worried he might be angry with me.”

“I doubt he is,” Suki said. “He’s been immersed in Fire Nation business this entire time; he’s probably been even more busy than you. I’m sure it just slipped his mind. I know to me, it only feels like a few weeks since we last saw him.”

“I guess.”

“You could write him right now.”

“No, we’ll see him in a couple days. There’s no point in writing to him right now.”

“What have you been up to, Katara?” Aang called, interrupting them.

“Teaching,” she said. “It’s been great getting to know these kids and teach them their heritage. It’s been kind of challenging, though, because all of them were conditioned to think they weren’t allowed to waterbend because the Fire Nation would kidnap them. It’s been hard helping them work through that fear and realize that isn’t how it is anymore.”

“Wow,” Aang said. “I’d never thought of that. Were you ever afraid to waterbend?”

“No,” Katara said. “No one ever told me I had to be.”

As she thought about it, her mother dying for her was probably why the parents of her students thought it was necessary to scare their children into not waterbending. Everyone knew the story of Kya’s death, especially because they’d left Harbor City so suddenly afterwards. Somehow it must have gotten out that they thought she was a waterbender, so they killed her.

Katara mulled this over for a while, and then let it go. It wasn’t her fault these children had been scared into hiding who they were. It was the Fire Nation’s fault.

She had to remind herself it was the old Fire Nation’s fault. In the short year he’d been Fire Lord, Zuko had already released an official apology to the Southern Water Tribe, among others, and returned the bodies of the dead waterbenders so they could be properly buried among their people. The Fire Nation kept impeccable records, so they were even able to be returned to their families if there were any members left. Those who had no family members had been buried by the Council of Elders. Even Hama’s remains had been returned; she’d died in Fire Nation custody not long after the war ended.

“I wonder how Zuko is doing,” Suki said carefully. “None of us have heard from him in a while.”

“That’s strange,” Aang said. “He’s been writing to me almost this entire time. We’ve been working on a plan for the colonies together.”

This stung Katara. Even though the business had been official, Zuko had made time to write to Aang and not her.

“Does he have any interesting updates?” Sokka asked.

“Not really,” Aang said. “He’s focusing on making reparations for the war as well as dealing with reeducating the people of the Fire Nation on what exactly was going on. It’s been a huge undertaking for him alone, so he’s had to put together committees within his council comprised of council members and trusted nobles to get the job done. He tasked the Fire Sages with the reeducation process, as they have been keeping the true histories hidden for the duration of the war. There’s a group of people unwilling to accept the Fire Nation was in the wrong, though, and Zuko has been trying to come up with ways to deal with them himself.”

Katara felt it again: the same thing she’d felt a year ago when Sokka had told her about the waterbending children. The pull to be somewhere and do something specific. This wasn’t an entirely new pull, as the pull to the children had been, but an old one. The one she’d been planning to follow before deciding to return home.

Deep inside her, Katara knew she would be able to help Zuko with this problem, and she hoped he would be open to her help. She still had some training to do with her students, but they were probably only another year from mastering waterbending even though they were so young. They might even benefit from a second year of training in the Fire Nation, as teaching them the techniques she and Zuko had developed would be more impactful with him to demonstrate how they work with fire. This might also help them get over their fear of firebenders in general.

Katara’s mind whirred with ideas, and she prayed to the spirits that she was on the right track.

Zuko arrived in the Earth Kingdom capital by airship. His dragon, Druk, who had been presented to him by the Sun Warriors after she’d hatched, was at home with the Fire Sages, who had been completely ecstatic the dragons weren’t actually extinct. Learning how to care for and raise the young dragon had been a welcome distraction for him for the past few months, but he was glad to be relieved of the responsibility for a while. He wanted to focus on seeing his friends and convincing Earth King Kuei that Aang’s plan for the colonies was the best way to go for both of their countries.

As Zuko was led to the suite in the Earth Kingdom palace that had always been reserved for the visiting Fire Lords, he thought about Katara. Her silence had saddened him, so he’d thrown himself into his work. At times he’d wondered if she were waiting for him to write, but figured she was probably too busy with her new students. He heard about them through Sokka’s sparse letters, but it wasn’t much.

His personal servant, Finn Lee, started unpacking Zuko’s things while Zuko explored the suite. It intrigued him that there were no windows, and he realized how few windows were visible from the outside of the palace. He couldn’t help but wonder if the Earth King’s chamber had windows at all. He made a mental note to add more windows to his own suite; being cooped up like this made him nervous.

“I believe that is everything, Fire Lord Zuko,” Finn Lee said, finding Zuko investigating his private parlor. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No, thank you, Finn Lee,” Zuko said, waving the other boy away.

With a bow, Finn Lee retreated to his own rooms off of Zuko’s suite.

Zuko sat down at his desk and thought about how he and Finn Lee had met. While Zuko was on his way to the Fire Sage’s compound in Capital city one evening, Finn Lee had accosted him and tried to rob him. Once he realized who Zuko was, he tried to run himself through with his own knife, but Zuko stopped him. Zuko invited the other boy, who was only a bit older than he was, to get a meal with him, and learned that Finn Lee’s father had died in the war, leaving him and his mother. Eventually his mother was forced to remarry to support herself, and her new husband cast Finn Lee out, leaving him to fend for himself. Zuko immediately felt for the boy and offered him the job as his personal servant. Finn Lee had been ecstatic at the opportunity, and the rest was history.

The young Fire Lord would like to think of Finn Lee as his friend, but it was hard to consider someone he paid to let him order him around his friend. He was glad for the other boy’s company at times, though. Being Fire Lord had been a lonelier enterprise than Zuko had expected it to be.

Eventually, Zuko got out of bed and went to his wardrobe to select a robe. A selection of Earth Kingdom garments had been provided for him, and he selected one for the gathering they would have at the Avatar’s house that afternoon. Aang had apparently finally been given possession of the actual Avatar house in the Upper Ring, and he was excited to show it to his friends.

As he dressed, Zuko wondered what had possessed Long Feng to not house Aang and his friends in the actual Avatar house, and decided it was a power play. After all, how was Aang supposed to know there was a building that had been built and maintained for Avatars for generations?

As visiting dignitaries from the Southern Water Tribe, Sokka and Katara had the option to stay in a specific suite in the palace itself. They decided that Sokka and Suki would stay there while Katara would stay in the Avatar house with Aang. He’d set up rooms for all of them there, and she liked the view hers had of the river that flowed through the Upper Ring.

Katara found a selection of Earth Kingdom robes in the room Aang had set aside for her, and as she ran her hand over them trying to decide, she thought about Zuko again. Would he even be happy to see her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	25. An Informal Summit

Zuko found himself running late, as he had a hard time convincing himself he wanted to go. The thought of seeing Katara again made his stomach churn. By the time he decided his presence was necessary, he was just in time to be late.

He knocked on the door of the house, shaking himself a bit to try to clear his thoughts and calm down. On the walk over he’d attempted several of his breathing exercises but none had been effective. Zuko found himself a buzzing ball of nerves.

Aang opened the door, shouting with glee and pulling Zuko into a hug immediately.

“It’s so great to see you!” he said exuberantly once he released Zuko. “Come in, come in, everyone’s here and we’ve been waiting for you!”

As Aang led him into the backyard, Zuko adjusted his robe. He’d decided to wear his hair down, but part of him wished he had his crown. There was a comfort in being a leader instead of a person.

Before this train of thought could go too far, the two young men emerged into Aang’s backyard and Zuko was assaulted by the smell of food cooking and loud music. The music was coming from the house over, it turned out; they were having a gathering as well and had hired a band. Sokka was manning the food with Suki, while Toph and Katara were sitting at the large table that had been set up for everyone.

Zuko’s eyes were immediately drawn to Katara, and after a moment she turned to look at him. Her expression made him warm and cold at the same time. To his dismay, she didn’t stand to greet him; she simply turned and continued her conversation with Toph.

Aang must have noticed Zuko’s distress, because he pulled Zuko over to where Sokka was cooking the food and put him to work making drinks for everyone.

“Once we have dinner, we’ll talk business,” Aang said as he passed cups of ice to Zuko. “Until then, it’s just a chance to catch up.”

“Yeah,” Zuko said, focusing on his task.

“Hey, Zuko!” Sokka said. “How’s life as the Fire Lord?”

_ Lonely. _

“It’s fine,” Zuko said out loud. “We’re making progress on the reeducation effort, but it’s slow going. It’s immensely difficult to convince people what they’ve been hearing for decades wasn’t the truth.”

“I can’t imagine,” Suki said.

Zuko noticed a necklace very similar to Katara’s mother’s around Suki’s neck.

“Congratulations,” he said, nodding to it.

Her hand flew to her neck.

“Oh, thank you,” she said, playing with the charm. “Sokka made it himself.”

Zuko nodded, thinking about how he’d once told Katara he would make her a necklace someday. He’d even ordered the moonstone for it and for some reason had brought it with him. He couldn’t say why; he had no idea what type of carving to do. The small stone was usually in his pocket, and sometimes he’d reach for it and play with it when he was getting stressed.

“We’re thinking of a spring wedding,” Sokka said as he started scooping meat and vegetables onto plates.

“Next year,” Suki ksaid. “I only just came of age and I want a bit more time just having fun.”

Zuko nodded again, thinking of Katara. He desperately wanted to glance at her but restrained himself.

“The food’s ready!” Sokka announced, carrying two heaping plates to the table.

Suki helped Zuko and Aang carry everyone’s drinks, and Zuko found himself sitting across from Katara

If she kept refusing to look at him, this was going to be a very long afternoon.

Katara got through the meal by swapping teaching stories with Toph. She barely looked at Zuko, and when she did manage to sneak a peek he was looking down at his plate. She was desperate to know what he was thinking, but wanted to be discreet. It had to be obvious to everyone at the table that something weird was going on between her and Zuko, but thankfully no one said anything.

After the meal was over, they cleaned up and moved inside to relax in Aang’s parlor and talk business. Katara found herself falling into her old habit of sitting next to Zuko, and since he’d chosen a couch barely big enough for two people, it was quite difficult to keep from touching him with some part of her. Finally she decided it would be fine if their hips touched, and she tried to relax.

“How have you been?” he asked softly as the others bickered about pillow distribution.

“Fine,” she said, taking a deep breath. “You?”

She hazarded a glance at him and saw darkness behind his eyes.

“Fine,” he said, turning away.

Katara did her best to focus on Aang.

“Okay guys,” the young monk said, perching on top of exactly three pillows, “I brought all of you here to do a dry-run of mine and Zuko’s plan for the Earth Kingdom colonies before we present it to the king tomorrow. There’s been a lot of back-and-forth over this, as both countries have strong reasons to want the land and the people.”

Katara nodded, considering this. The Fire Nation had citizens living there, but the problem was that they’d intermingled with Earth Kingdom citizens to the point that the two cultures had formed a sort of fifth world culture. She hadn’t been able to visit, but she’d heard about it through Sokka as he’d regularly corresponded with Aang.

And of course the Earth Kingdom laid claim to them because they were originally Earth Kingdom territory, and Earth King Kuei felt that they should be surrendered to the Earth Kingdom as part of the reparations Zuko was to pay to make up for the war. The only problem was, he wanted all of the Fire Nation citizens out of the territory, and with the intermingling of families and culture, that would be quite difficult to achieve.

“Zuko and I had the idea,” Aang was saying, “of turning the colonies into a fifth nation. The Fire Nation would give up their claim and the Earth Kingdom would give up theirs, and we’d start a new country where people from all nations could live and govern themselves peacefully.”

“That sounds great, Aang,” Toph said. “Do you think Kuei will go for it?”

“I’m not sure,” Aang admitted. “Up to this point he and his advisors have been firm in their desire to have the colonies back. However, with how the colonies have developed, I think this would be the perfect plan as they aren’t truly Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation anymore. They’re something else.”

“So what do you need from us?” Sokka asked.

“I want to run through the entire proposal with you guys and get your feedback.”

They started with where the new country’s borders would be. Aang’s suggestion that no more land than was already considered colony land would be allotted to them. Everyone agreed with this notion, so they moved on to the government.

“I thought it would be interesting to have a council,” Zuko said. “Decisions regarding the ruling of the country would be made jointly by people from each nation. There would be a firebender, a waterbender, an earthbender, an airbender, and a non-bender on the council, each of whom would be elected to the council by their nation’s people.”

“How long would they serve on the council?” Suki asked.

“For seven years,” Aang said. “That allows for stability, but keeps people from ruling forever.”

“Would people outside the new nation vote for who’s on the council?” Katara asked. “For example, would I be able to vote for the Water Tribe representative even though I live in the Southern Water Tribe?”

“No,” Aang said. “Only citizens of the fifth nation would be able to vote.”

Katara nodded, leaning back against the couch. She bumped into something and turned to see Zuko had put his arm on the back of the couch behind her. When she glanced at him, he wasn’t paying attention, so she didn’t say anything. He moved so she wouldn’t hit him again but left his arm on the back of the couch.

After discussing various matters of money, where the capital would be, and how the city would be affected by Aang being the only airbender in existence, Aang finally called the meeting to a close.

“Thank you guys so much for helping me with this,” he said. “I think Earth King Kuei is going to be very responsive to this plan.”

“Just don’t let all the power go to your head, Aang,” Sokka teased.

“I won’t,” Aang said, rolling his eyes. “Like we said, I probably won’t sit on the council permanently. I’ll be too busy with Avatar stuff to be there all the time. And it doesn’t even matter until there are more airbenders.”

All of them fell silent at the thought that it was completely up to Aang and whomever his wife would be to repopulate the Air Nomad society. The thought made Katara simultaneously sad at the enormity of it and relieved that she wouldn’t be the one helping him.

“I think it’s time we all get to bed,” Toph said, stretching. “It feels late.”

Katara glanced out the window to see that darkness had indeed fallen, and they’d been there all evening with nothing to eat but the late lunch Aang had provided them with.

While the others stood and stretched and chatted, Katara didn’t move. She desperately wanted to say something to Zuko, but had no idea what. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Zuko not moving either, and turned to look at him fully.

He looked older, of course, but not as though it had just been a year. He looked as though he’d lived a lifetime in that year. She noticed his hair had been allowed to grow much longer, and wondered if he even needed to cut it for the traditional Fire Lord updo.

“Hey,” he said, turning to look at her and making her jump.

“Hey.”

“Do you want to go to my uncle’s tea shop with me?” he asked her quietly. “He hasn’t opened officially yet, but he told me he’d be working late and would be more than willing to make us dinner. Just, you know, the two of us.”

Katara nodded, and Zuko told the others goodnight before escorting her out of the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	26. A Mistake

The silence was heavy between Zuko and Katara as they walked to the Jasmine Dragon. Zuko wanted to reach out and hold her hand as he’d done so many times before, but something held him back.  
Every glimpse of her he stole confused him more. She didn’t seem upset with him, or angry, or even sad. She was simply existing, drinking in the moonlight, lost in her own thoughts. He burned to know what she was thinking.  
He held the door of the tea shop open for her and she gave him a small smile as she entered. His uncle had set a table for them, so Katara sat while Zuko went to tell Iroh they were there. When the door to the kitchen swung closed behind him, Zuko let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.  
“Everything alright?” Iroh asked, not looking up from the pot of tea he was heating.  
“I’m not sure,” Zuko admitted.  
“I’ll bring out a tray when I’m finished. Go and talk to her.”  
Zuko nodded, took a deep breath, and returned to Katara.

They sat in a silence that made Katara’s skin crawl. Zuko was looking everywhere but at her, and it was driving her crazy. Finally, she snapped.  
“Would you look at me?”  
His head snapped towards her, his eyes wide.  
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just… don’t know what to say.”  
Katara’s heart sank.  
“Say what you’re thinking,” she said quietly.  
“You look well,” he said finally.  
“I am,” she said. “I’ve been enjoying my students.”  
Zuko nodded.  
“You look terrible,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.  
From the look on Zuko’s face, it didn’t work.  
“Zuko, I--”  
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, waving her off. “I’m fine.”  
She wanted to ask him not to lie to her anymore. To look at her like he had before, when they’d been happy.  
“Why didn’t you write?” she asked instead.  
“I thought you would first,” he said. “When you didn’t, I thought you were too busy.”  
“I thought you would write first,” she admitted.  
“Technically I did,” he said.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Did you ever look in the messenger hawk’s pouch?”  
Katara shook her head.  
“No,” she said. “And whatever was there probably isn’t anymore. Sokka borrowed it a few times.”

Zuko’s heart sank. It was like everything was working against them.  
“Do you remember what the letter said?” Katara asked after a few moments.  
Yes.  
“No,” his mouth said.   
Silence fell again.  
Iroh brought them food and tea, setting the plates and cups in front of them before returning to the kitchen.  
“Say something,” she whispered.  
“What do you want from me?” he asked.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Why did you come with me? You never wrote me either. Surely there was a reason.”  
“I was busy, Zuko!” Katara exclaimed. “I was busy, and when you didn’t write I thought you were busy too. So I didn’t write.”  
“Would you have written eventually?” Zuko demanded.  
“Would you have?” she retorted.  
No, he admitted to himself. He’d made being with him entirely her choice. If she’d never written, he would have assumed she didn’t want him anymore.  
“I don’t know if I would have,” Katara said after several moments of silence. “I wanted to. I wanted to talk to you every day.”  
So did I.  
“Why won’t you talk to me?” she pleaded. “How can I fix this? You’re still my best friend.”  
A wry chuckle escaped Zuko’s lips.  
“I don’t know about that,” he said.

Katara could feel her heart ripping in two.  
“So that’s it then?” she whispered. “The end of… us?”  
“There wasn’t an us anymore a long time ago,” Zuko said.  
She looked at him, but the darkness in his eyes hid anything she might have seen in them.  
“Don’t do this,” she said. “Please. I want to be with you. I want to help you.”  
He looked at her, a spark of something in his expression.  
Before he could speak, she continued: “Aang told me about the people trying to put your father back in power. I want to help you deal with them.”  
From the look on his face, this was the wrong thing to say.  
“Thanks, Katara,” he said, turning away. “But I don’t need your charity. I’ll figure it out eventually. It might take a while, but I will.”  
“I didn’t mean--”  
“It doesn’t matter.”  
She reached for the hand he had laying on the table, but before she could touch him he pulled it away.  
“What do you want from me, Zuko?” she asked. “Why did you ask me to come with you?”  
“I wanted to know if there was a chance for us,” he said. “I’ve been so lonely with all of you gone. I’ve missed you with every ounce of my being. But I don’t think there is a chance for us anymore.”  
“Why not?” she demanded, tears springing to her eyes. “I want to be with you!”  
“Do you?” he asked. “Or do you want to feel useful?”  
This stunned her.  
“I… I still love you,” she whispered.  
Zuko shook his head.  
“I don’t know about that,” he said again. “If you really did, you would have written.  
“If I really did, I would have.”  
All of the air went out of Katara’s chest and she felt like she couldn’t breathe.

Zuko asked if he could walk her back to Aang’s house and she accepted, wanting one last chance to save them. But he didn’t even look at her as they walked. When he did, his eyes were a burning pool of amber, indecipherable to her.  
To her surprise, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.  
“I hope you’ll be happy,” he said before disappearing into the night.  
Katara barely got inside the house and to her room before she collapsed to the floor in tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr at cynical-mystic!


	27. Epilogue - Zuko Alone

Zuko allowed Katara to bring her students to the palace for a month to help them realize Fire Nation people weren’t to be afraid of, but he steered clear of them himself. Several times she tried to connect with him, but he avoided her. Soon she stopped asking, and then they were gone.

The young Fire Lord watched over her as the years went by, regretting letting her go, and did eventually attend her wedding to Aang with a broken heart he did his best to hide.

Eventually he figured out how to exist without the thought of Katara by his side, and as the years passed he became a respected Fire Lord and the movement in support of his father died down. His council and the Fire Sages pressured him to marry, but there was only one woman he wanted, so he refused.

He managed to track down his mother and learned he had a younger sister. At the same time he got news Katara and Aang had had their second child, his mother brought him his sister’s baby.

“You need an heir,” she said, “and she needs a family. I’m too old to care for her and your sister died in childbirth. Please take her.”

Zuko did, of course, adopting the child as his own and naming her Izumi. The palace was full of gossip about where the child came from, but he let their tongues wag. They wouldn’t accept the truth, so there was no reason to give it to them.

As Izumi grew, she struggled to connect with the other noble children. He tried sending her to school, but she was bullied harshly. He reprimanded the parents of the children involved and withdrew her from school, hiring a private tutor instead.

One day, he broke down and wrote to Katara. It was his first personal letter in over a decade, and he asked her if she would consider bringing her children to the Fire Nation to potentially become friends with Izumi.

When she didn’t respond, he eventually forgot about it, but one day he was surprised not by a response to his letter, but by Katara standing in his courtyard with Bumi, her oldest, at one side and Kya, her only daughter, at the other.

“Zuko,” she said. “I need your help.”

“Anything,” he said without thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bridge between this fic and its sequel, which I'll be posting starting this coming Sunday, so keep an eye out for it!


End file.
